Festival return for youth theatre group

After a three year break from participation in the National Theatre Connections festival Shetland Youth Theatre is to stage Stef Smith’s Remote next month.

The production, presented by Shetland Arts, will be performed at the Garrison Theatre from 19th to 21st February.

National Theatre Connections is the biggest youth theatre festival in the world, organised by the National Theatre of Great Britain and featuring more than 250 youth groups from across the UK and beyond.

Each year, National Theatre commissions 10 leading playwrights to create a new piece of work especially for youth groups to perform, and participating companies select one of the scripts to be presented in their home location.

Shetland Youth Theatre has chosen to perform Remote – a play about protest, power and protecting yourself. In the play a girl called Antler steps out of her front door and throws her phone on the ground. She stamps on it then climbs the tallest tree in the park. She doesn’t want to be found by anyone.

Seven teenagers’ lives intertwine over the course of an evening as they make their way through the park on a seemingly normal autumn night. Remote is recommended for ages 13 and over.

In previous years the Shetland Youth Theatre has performed a wide variety of shows both in Shetland and in Edinburgh. The company has also performed on the main Olivier stage in London.

Stef Smith studied Drama and Theatre Arts at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. She is best known for the critically acclaimed and sell-out show RoadKill (Edinburgh Festival 2010, 2011) which won a Laurence Olivier Award in 2012.

Smith has also been on attachment with the National Theatre of Scotland and was part of the National Writers Group at the Royal Court Theatre in London.

Director John Haswell said: “We have a company of over 20 young people who are excited about being part of the Connections festival.

“Because we have not taken part for three years due to our involvement in other projects (primarily Ignition with the National Theatre of Scotland), this will be a new venture for most of the company.

“It is always exciting to work on a brand new text and the opportunity to view the work of other youth theatres has always been an important element in the learning process that is at the core of our work.”