A THEATRE company in Ellesmere Port has been selected to perform a play at a festival next month.
The Boaty Theatre Company will perform Innocent Creatures, a new play by Leo Butler on Thursday, June 22 on the Dorfman Theatre stage at the National Theatre as part of the 2023 Connections Festival.
They are one of ten companies representing the talent of young people across the UK at the 2023 Connections Festival. The Boaty Theatre Company first performed the play at Connections partner theatre Crewe Lyceum.
The Boaty Theatre Company has been running for 12 years, starting out life as a small youth drama group in Ellesmere Port’s National Waterways Museum.
They continue to build and grow, providing opportunities for young people and vulnerable adults in the creative and performing arts industries.
The annual nationwide youth theatre festival, now in its 28th year, celebrates young talent with 5,600 young people aged 13-19 performing one of ten new plays from established and emerging playwrights including Lisa McGee (Derry Girls) and Shamser Sinha (Three Sat Under the Banyan Tree). 264 groups have had the opportunity to perform their selected play at one of our 36 leading partner venues, including Crewe Lyceum.
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These ten plays, commissioned by Connections for young people to perform, explore themes of justice, grief, love, teamwork, friendship, rural life, the end of the world and the climate emergency. Participants are involved in all aspects of the theatre making process both on and off stage and off. This includes getting involved with costume, lighting and set design.
'We are so thrilled'
Laura Harris, group leader at Boaty Theatre Company, said: "We are so thrilled. Being selected to bring our vision for Leo’s play down to London, to perform at National Theatre is just beyond amazing. We work hard and play hard as a group, exploring how we create and present world, story and character as an ensemble.
"I’m so very proud of my team of Young Theatre Makers and of the group Leaders who have been a constant source of support and guidance for this young team throughout this process and beyond. I especially want to thank T (Terasa Newton-Harris) and Chip (Charlotte Pedley) for their tireless dedication, vision, support and practical/technical solutions in bringing “Innocent Creatures” to life. Thank you."
Sasha Green, a young participant aged 14, said: "Connections has been so much fun to work towards and has really given us a goal to try and reach. It has let all of us bond and form relationships with people we wouldn’t usually speak to and now we are all insanely close.
"When we went to Crewe, we all had such a laugh together and we got to meet the other company who performed that day. To perform in London, at the National Theatre is amazing and is a dream come true for me, if not all of us."
Innocent creatures will be performed at 8.30pm on Thursday, June 22. Tuesday will be performed by Plough Youth Theatre at 7.30pm.
Tickets are £5 each, or £8 for both shows that evening and are on sale now. To book tickets visit the National Theatre Website.
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