Connections Festival 2024 at the National Theatre

The National Theatre’s Connections Festival is back for its 29^th year of celebrating young people, youth theatre and new writing. 

Connections aims to support the next generation of theatre makers, offering access to creative industries through a selection of plays designed to transport audiences through space and time. Exploring the struggles faced by today’s youth, the themes that reveal themselves feel urgent and authentic for a generation growing up in the midst of future financial uncertainty, political unrest and a mental health crisis fuelled by a social media boom.

This festival not only encourages young people to foster new friendships and cultivates a sense of community and belonging, but also tackles the diversities, complexities and uncertainties of life.

Yasmeen Khan’s Back in the Day, performed by Folkestone School for Girls, recognises this generational seismic shift in ideologies. Exploring personal and shared identity, as well as struggles with mental health, this 80s roller disco gives Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express a run for its money. In a freak accident, a group of classmates are transported back into the 1980s where they learn about themselves and each other, as well as what it really means to be a wellbeing champion.

As the title suggests, the play draws on a disparity between the otherworldly past and the present generation. It longs for a golden age filled with Saturday morning TV, a buzzing high street lined with Woolworths and Dorothy Perkins and the physical interaction, which predated mobile phones. However, underlying the excessive colour and blaring music is crippling homophobia, as well as a painful lack of mental health support and recognition for young carers. The play highlights that these are in fact still issues that plague modern-day society and plants the seed of hope that we can continue to learn from the past to benefit our future.

Back in the Day is scattered with bangers from the decade like Don’t You Want Me, Give It Up, Karma Chameleon, topped off with a sprinkling of Kate Bush. Dressed in disco balls, shell suits and enough neon it looks like a “rainbow threw up”, this play explores weighty and complex themes but definitely has fun doing it. Scrabble-board letter blocks come together to form an era staple Rubik’s cube. These are then broken apart to spell out each scene, from the bus stop to the classroom. 

Where this set moves and evolves to conjure various scenes spread across time, Josh Azouz’s play Kiss/Marry/Push Off Cliff, performed by Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School, relies on mirror images to transport the audience through space. During a camping trip with friends, one of the group is ousted for something that happened the previous night. The reason for this banishing being uncertain, friendships are tried, tested and broken in a play, which is guided by an unreliable moral compass. 

A mini Glastonbury, two tents angle towards each other. Once the group is separated, the plot splits into two, creating a parallel visually depicted by the two campsites running in the same time frame but in different places.

The plot felt unclear throughout, leaving the audience with a feeling of abruptness and confusion, not quite sure how to connect the two sides of the story. Losing momentum halfway through, the narrative gets lost in the wilderness like its characters. Although themes and issues were clearly raised, such as homophobia and racism, and perhaps toxic masculinity, these seemed undefined, making it difficult for any individual character to come to a tangible resolution. However, the cast did a brilliant job keeping the momentum alive in a plot that felt somewhat lacklustre, relying on its final scene to provide drama.  

The use of puppetry to bring the dog to life was expertly handled. Frankie provided comic relief as he fetched his ball, sniffed around the set, and chased his tail, all whilst having an existential crisis. The interpretation of the giant moth achieved through the use of projection effects was also creatively accomplished. 

Whilst Back in the Day explores issues faced by the youth through a wider lens, Kiss/Marry/Push off Cliff, is a microcosm of the world outside of a tight-knit friendship group. Both viewpoints are equally important in helping children and young adults not only understand the environment around them, but inevitably make a positive impact in a world which needs it more than ever. 

Olivia Gardener
Images: Jimmy Lee Photography

Connections Festival 2024 is at the National Theatre from 25^th until 29^th June 2024. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.