National Theatre Connections 2026
About This Event
When an alarm is deliberately set off during their GCSE drama exam, a group of students find themselves in detention. As they struggle to navigate the seemingly endless tasks they’ve been set as punishment, questions are raised. Who set off the alarm and why? Will they ever get out of this detention? Will it cost them their GCSE? And why
is
Shakespeare still so popular?
So begins a meta deconstruction of the play as we move from classroom to theatre, artifice to reality. The performers switch between their characters and their real selves as they interrogate Shakespeare, the canon, the education system, the nature of theatre, and the world itself. They begin to wonder whether the classics really are that classic, or whether we might need to tell a different story altogether….
Age Guidance: 14+
Content Guidance: Themes explore the climate emergency, themes exploring the cost of living crisis, depictions of anxiety and references to colonialism.
Kirsty Housley
is a theatre maker working across direction, writing and dramaturgy.
Awards include the OSBTT Award and The Stage award for Innovation. She was RSC digital fellow in 2022. Recent writing includes
Myth
(RSC) and
Woman and Machine
(Royal Opera House).
As co-creator, work includes
RISE
: Bradford City of Culture opening ceremony (with Steven Frayne/Dynamo);
The Long Goodbye
(Riz Ahmed/Manchester International Festival) and
Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran
(Traverse/Sundance).
Directing includes:
Cutting the Tightrope
(Arcola);
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
and
The Encounter
(both Complicite, as Co Director);
Jekyll & Hyde
(National Theatre);
Mephisto: A Rhapsody
(Gate);
Tao of Glass
(Manchester International Festival/Royal Exchange) and
The Believers are but Brothers
(Bush Theatre).
Dramaturgy includes
Public Interest
(Common/Wealth);
ECHO
(Royal Court),
Horse
(Matthew Herbert/Edinburgh International Festival);
Avalanche
(Barbican) and
Misty
(Bush/West End).
Performances:
Thu 19 Mar – 6.15pm: Stockton Riverside College
Tue 24 Mar – 6.15pm: Cockburn James Charles Academy
Performance: Tue 24 Mar at 6:15pm
Venue: Studio, York Theatre Royal
Duration: 0 hours
Age Guidance: 14+