ANDOVER college students have been celebrating the success of their recent drama performance as part of a national initiative.
Students and staff at Sparsholt College Group’s Andover Campus performed The Periodicals at the Salisbury Playhouse as part of The National Theatre Connections 2024.
The National Theatre’s nationwide youth theatre festival offers first year UAL Performing Arts students the chance to work on one of 10 plays written by leading writers and facilitated by a leading director. Whilst students get to work bringing the play to life, Connections enrich the student's curriculum further.
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Stacy Hopkins, Andover College performing arts lecturer, said: "This has been such an amazing opportunity and experience for the cast and crew. Working with original material, with the support of both Wiltshire Creative and The National Theatre has been incredibly useful for these young performers, allowing them to be creatively free and work with characters that they can engage and connect with.
"Sian Owen’s The Periodicals is such an inclusive text which welcomes all types of performers and offers relatable characters, which this cast have really gotten their teeth into, with great success. A huge thank you to everyone who has supported the project and shown such belief in this young company."
The performance took place on Tuesday, March 19 and Ms Hopkins said it was an incredible opportunity for the Andover College Performing Arts Company.
Following a successful application to the National Theatre in late 2023 Andover College began working with both the National Theatre and Wiltshire Creative to produce the contemporary play written with young performers in mind.
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Louise Dancy, Take Part director, added: "It is a privilege to hand over our stages to our young community and future industry professionals.
"Andover College had a fabulous day working with the team at Salisbury Playhouse on and off stage. Their enthusiasm and hard work resulted in a strong performance of this new play which very much reflected them as performers."
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