Always drawing together the work of 10 leading playwrights - a mixture of established and current writers - the annual National Theatre Connections anthologies offer young performers between the ages of 13 and 19 an engaging selection of plays to perform, read or study. Each play is specifically commissioned by the National Theatre's literary department and reflects the past year's programming at the venue in the plays' ideas, themes and styles. The plays are performed by approximately 200 schools and youth theatre companies across the UK and Ireland, in partnership with multiple professional regional theatres where the works are showcased. For the first time, there is an anthology of monologues for young people available, taken from plays commissioned as part of the National Theatre Connections over the past 20 years. The monologues feature alongside a general introduction by the editor, Anthony Banks (Associate Director for the National Theatre Discover Programme).The volume also contains individual studies of each monologue with the editor's suggested points for discussion, a brief commentary about the play from which the speech is taken, as well as flagging potential performance decisions and offering up dramaturgical suggestions. Each page features one monologue, plus the individual commentary and some background to the play. This anthology of monologues is the ideal resource for teenagers and young people attending auditions either in the amateur or professional theatre world; students leaving secondary school to audition for drama school; as well as teachers of English and Drama looking for suitable dramatic for their students to engage with and perform. It provides suitable scene-study books that are suitable and relevant to the student in terms of tone, style and content. Young actors who have searched for audition material written in the voice of teenage characters will welcome this resource. With a foreword by actor Matt Smith.

Times are tough for the family in the wood They'd eat like kings if only they could But hunger gnaws - famine stalks the land Something quite wicked has the upper hand! Poor mother and father must do "what is best"... And Hansel and Gretel will be put to the test! Armed with their very last slice of bread Will they eat to survive Or ........leave ....................a ..........................trail ...................................home ..............................................instead? The school edition of Carl Grose and Kneehigh Theatre Company's acclaimed version of Hansel & Gretel, which includes notes for teachers and those studying the play for GCSE English, as written by Anthony Banks.

Drawing together the work of ten leading playwrights - a mixture of established and emerging writers - this National Theatre Connections anthology is published to coincide with the 2015 festival, which takes place across the UK and Ireland, finishing up at the National Theatre in London. The programme offers young performers between the ages of thirteen and nineteen everywhere an engaging selection of plays to perform, read or study. Each play is specifically commissioned by the National Theatre's literary department with the young performer in mind. The plays are performed by approximately 200 schools and youth theatre companies across the UK and Ireland, in partnership with multiple professional regional theatres where the works are showcased. The anthology contains all ten of the play scripts, and notes from the writer and director of each play, addressing the themes and ideas behind the play, as well as production notes and exercises. The National Theatre Connections series has been running for twenty years and the anthology that accompanies it, published for the last five years by Methuen Drama, is gaining a greater profile by the year. This year's anthology includes plays by Jamie Brittain, Katherine Chandler, Elinor Cook, Ayub Khan Din, Katie Douglas, Cush Jumbo, Ben Ockrent, Eugene O'Hare, Stef Smith and Sarah Solemani.

I just remember, even as a, as a young . . . man, not even man, just a boy . . . when nothing makes sense, and you're not sure who you are . . . the idea of - the strength of the person that stands alone, carves their own path . . . of it not being who you are or where you're from but what you do. Sam, a working-class northern lad, is a Tory researcher working in the office of an education minister. His colleagues know that he's gay, but aware of his career prospects as a possible future MP, he prefers to keep it under wraps, much to the dismay of his Labour opposite number, James, who is trying to keen to have a relationship with him. Has Sam got any chance of rising through the Tory ranks if he comes out of the closet completely? Discovering that he is working in the same office in which Ted Heath originally began his career inspires Sam to research the man and the rumours about his sexuality. Through juxtaposing two careers - Ted Heath's and that of the young, modern Tory researcher - Graham questions whether sexuality matters in today's political world and, if it does, then why. Tory Boyz was first performed by the National Youth Theatre Company at Soho Theatre, London, on 21 July 2008. This edition contains the updated script from 2013 as well as an introduction by Anthony Banks, director and Associate Director for National Theatre Learning.

Drawing together the work of ten leading playwrights - a mixture of established and current writers - "National Theatre Connections 2013 "offers young performers between the ages of thirteen and nineteen everywhere an engaging selection of plays to perform, read or study. Each play is specifically commissioned by the National Theatre's literary department and reflects the past year's programming at the venue in the plays' ideas, themes and styles. The plays are performed by approximately 200 schools and youth theatre companies across the UK and Ireland, in partnership with multiple professional regional theatres where the works are showcased.The volume features an introduction by Anthony Banks, Associate Director for the National Theatre Discover Programme, and each play includes notes from the writer and director addressing the themes and ideas behind the play, as well as production notes and exercises.Published to coincide with the 2013 Connections festival, and the 50th anniversary of the National Theatre, this year's collection features work from Howard Brenton, Jim Cartwright, Lucinda Coxon, Ryan Craig, Stacey Gregg, Jonathan Harvey, Lenny Henry, Jemma Kennedy, Morna Pearson, and Anya Reiss.

Drawing together the work of ten leading playwrights - a mixture of established and emerging writers - this National Theatre Connections anthology is published to coincide with the 2014 festival, which takes place across the UK and finishes up at the National Theatre in London. It offers young performers between the ages of thirteen and nineteen everywhere an engaging selection of plays to perform, read or study. Each play is specifically commissioned by the National Theatre's literary department with the young performer in mind. The plays are performed by approximately 200 schools and youth theatre companies across the UK and Ireland, in partnership with multiple professional regional theatres where the works are showcased. As with previous anthologies, the volume will feature an introduction by Anthony Banks, Associate Director of the National Theatre Discover Programme, and each play includes notes from the writer and director addressing the themes and ideas behind the play, as well as production notes and exercises. The National Theatre Connections series has been running for nineteen years and the anthology that accompanies it, published for the last three years by Methuen Drama, is gaining a greater profile by the year. Some iconic plays have grown out of the Connections programme including Citizenship by Mark Ravenhill, Burn by Deborah Gearing, Chatroom by Enda Walsh, Baby Girl by Roy Williams, DNA by Dennis Kelly, and The Miracle by Lin Coghlan. The series has a recognisable brand and the anthologies continue to be an extremely useful resource, their value extending well beyond their year of publication. This year's anthology includes plays by Sabrina Mahfouz, Simon Vinnicombe, Catherine Johnson, Pauline McLynn, Dafydd James, Luke Norris and Sam Holcroft.