Torrington’s Plough Youth Theatre (PYT) has been selected as one of 10 youth companies for National Theatre’s NT Connections 2023.

NT Connections is a nationwide youth theatre festival which will see PYT students performing at the National Theatre on Thursday, June 22 at 7pm.

The NT Connections programme is 28 years old and has a history of championing the talent of young people from across the UK. In 21/22, NT Connections worked with 260 youth companies and over 8,000 young people from every corner of the UK – making this a huge achievement for PYT!

PYT’s entry, Tuesday by Alison Carr, was initially staged at The Plough Arts Centre, Great Torrington in March. The show’s Director Michele Borsten said: “Working on staging we were inspired by the challenges of the visual imagery. The ensemble moved beyond naturalism to explore other styles of performance; choral speaking; physical theatre; sound and music (composed by Billy Parker). The best ideas for staging came from the cast. Working on ‘Tuesday’ has been an incredible learning experience. Personally it has been a delight and honour to work with this group of unique and dynamic youth members.”

The National Theatre said: “Our hope is that the ten shows coming to the NT showcase the breadth of incredible work happening across the UK, from an incredibly varied and diverse range of companies and young people. Connections is not a competition, and we take a wide range of factors into consideration when deciding who to invite to the festival. Tickets will go on sale for the festival at 11am on Friday, May 19, and we would love to see lots of you there!”

National Theatre tickets can be purchased at www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. For more information about The Plough Youth Theatre or events, go to www.theploughartscentre.org.uk or call the Box Office on 01805 624624. Box Office will opens Tues – Sat 10am – 4pm.