Youth Theatre take on brand new play

Group 6

Stafford Gatehouse Youth Theatre will be performing a brand new play at the MET Studio from Tuesday 11^th to Friday 14^th February as part of National Theatre Connections – a nationwide celebration of new plays for young people.

Connections is produced by the National Theatre and supported by a number of individuals, trusts and foundations.

Each year new plays are commissioned for and about young people from some of the best contemporary playwrights, for performance by schools and youth theatres all over the UK and Ireland, making Connections one of the world’s largest celebrations of youth theatre.

SGYT Group 6 will be performing Hearts by Luke Norris, which is set in the locker room of a struggling football team. Sacred Heart FC’s days are numbered, but they’re not going down without a fight. Harry spends the season trying to keep everyone together for one more year. But when the boys are more interested in ‘scoring’ than winning, and the girls are playing games of their own, what chance have they got? It’s a knockabout comedy about romance and the beautiful game. 

"I'm hugely excited that Group 6 of SGYT are involved in the National Theatre Connections scheme. After the success we had last year with Group 8's involvement in the same project, I really wanted to offer this same opportunity to other members.  It's a fantastic chance for young actors to be able to be the first person to play a particular role, and create a character for themselves” commented Director Richard Poynton.

 “We also get to take the play to our Partner Theatre - The Lowry Theatre in Salford - as part of a regional Connections Festival in May.  At the festival there will be performances by a number of youth companies, and this is another huge benefit to being involved in the project, as our members get to see the varied work of many different young performers which is extremely rewarding" concluded Poynton.

The performers in the group are also incredibly excited to perform characters their own age in this new play.

Jack and Erin

Jack Anthony, aged 15 who joined SGYT last year, described Hearts as “teenage life wrapped up in a locker room”, and says teenagers and adults can relate to the story of teenagers trying to “impress their friends and girls over football”.

Erin Higginson, aged 14 who has been with SGYT for 7 years added that they will also be the only group performing Hearts at the Regional Festival, describing the opportunity to perform in a larger venue as “really, really exciting”.

“We really hope to get big audiences in to The MET to see this brand new play as it is so different to anything we have performed before” concluded Erin.

Hearts runs at the MET Studio from Tuesday 11^th to Friday 14^th February at 7.30pm. Tickets are just £7 / £6 concessions and can be booked by calling the box office on 01785 254653 or by clicking here

Hearts is recommended for ages 14 over.