National Theatre Connections 2023 — Solihull Sixth Form College

National Theatre Connections 2023

Solihull Sixth Form College’s Theatre in Education students put on a production of “(Circle Dreams Around) The Terrible, Terrible Past” by West Midlands playwright Simon Longman recently in front of an audience of friends and family and will soon be taking it on tour.

The company of performers consisted of learners who had chosen Theatre in Education as their enrichment options, so they were not necessarily all A level Drama students. They undertook this production as part of the National Theatre’s Connections 2023 programme, which is an annual nationwide youth theatre festival. This particular play is a surrealist production, which takes the audience inside people’s dreams. As part of the National Theatre’s Connections programme, the students will be taking this production on tour to the Nottingham Playhouse and will be performing there on Sunday 16 April 2023.

Nadia Kouhi, Drama teacher at the College, commented:

“The surrealist nature of this production gave our actors scope to be really creative and expressive and they certainly rose to the challenge. Thank you to everyone who came along to support our learners and see the fruits of their labours.”

Enrichment is an activity that learners take part in alongside their main programme of study. It gives them the opportunity to develop new skills, make new friends and boost their progression chances after College. A wide variety of options are open to students including music, drama, sport, community activities, volunteering and a range of academic choices.

Drama students will be putting on another public performance at the end of March. Year 13 Drama learners will be showing off their assessed practical pieces on Wednesday 29 and Thursday 30 March at 6pm. Tickets – priced £5 for adults and £3 concessions – are available from the Drama department.

15 March 2023