National Theatre Connections 2024

Abi Zakarian is the author of six full-length plays including A Thousand Yards and Swifter, Higher, Stronger; she is one of the playwrights-in-residence for the Schoolwrights scheme in East London. Charlie Josephine is an actor and a writer. Their work includes Bitch Boxer, BLUSH and Pops. They can be found at charliejosephine.com Luke Barnes is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter and theatre-maker using live performance and film to tell stories and make a good night out that’s also useful as humans and as a community. Highlights include: Freedom Project (Leeds Playhouse), The Jumper Factory (Young Vic), The Sad Club (National Theatre), No One Will Tell Me How To Start A Revolution (Hampstead Theatre), All We Ever Wanted Was Everything (Bush Theatre, Paines Plough Roundabout with Middle Child), Bottleneck (Soho Theatre with HighTide), Chapel Street (Bush Theatre), Weekend Rockstars and Ten Storey Love Song (Hull Truck with Middle Child), and The Saints (Nuffield Theatre). He is an avid Liverpool fan and average (to poor) musician. Mojisola Adebayo is a playwright, performer, director, producer, workshop facilitator and lecturer. She has a BA in Drama and Theatre Arts, an MA in Physical Theatre and her PhD is entitled Afriquia Theatre: Creating Black Queer Ubuntu Through Performance (Goldsmiths, Royal Holloway and Queen Mary, University of London). Mojisola trained extensively with Augusto Boal and is an international specialist in Theatre of the Oppressed, often working in locations of crisis and conflict. She has worked in theatre, radio and television, on four continents, over the past 25 years, performing in over 50 productions, writing, devising and directing over 30 plays, and leading countless workshops, from Antarctica to Zimbabwe. Her own authored plays include Moj of the Antarctic: An African Odyssey (Lyric Hammersmith and Ovalhouse, London), Muhammad Ali and Me (Ovalhouse, Albany Theatre, London and UK touring), 48 Minutes for Palestine (Ashtar Theatre and international touring), Desert Boy (Albany Theatre, London and UK touring), The Listeners (Pegasus Theatre, Oxford), I Stand Corrected (Artscape, Ovalhouse, London and international touring) and The Interrogation of Sandra Bland (Bush Theatre, London).

Connections Producer Introduction
Introduction by Ola Animashawun
Connections 2024 Synopses

Age is Revolting by Abi Zakarian
Cast size: flexible, with a suggested minimum cast size of eight; Recommended for ages 14+

Shout by Alexis Zegerman
Cast size: minimum of eight; Recommended for ages 15+

Orchestra by Charlie Josephine
Cast size: minimum of seven, no maximum; Recommended for ages 13+

Dy Enw Marw / Your Name is Dead by Elgan Rhys, in collaboration with Leo Drayton
Cast size: Flexible cast size, with 30 named characters; Recommended for ages 13+

Kiss / Marry / Push off Cliff by Josh Azouz
Cast size: nine; Suitable for all ages

The Periodicals by Sian Owen
Cast size: 14; Recommended for ages 14+

Replica by Titas Halder
Cast size: twenty-one characters, recommended minimum cast size of twelve; Recommended for ages 16+

The Sad Club by Luke Barnes, with music by Adam Pleeth
Cast size: minimum of 15; Recommended for ages 14+

Wind/Rush Generation(s) by Mojisola Adebayo
Cast size: 14 named characters, minimum cast size of eight; Recommended for ages 13+

Back in the Day by Yasmeen Khan
Cast size: 9 – 50, any gender; Suitable for all age