Join us for Day Three of this years National Theatre Connections Festival.

Performing will be Holcombe Grammar School with their production of Sycamore Gap and also Dane Court Grammar School with their production of The Animals.

Please note that this may not be the order the shows will be performed in. Your ticket will cover the entire evening.

The evening will begin at 6pm and will finish by 9pm. There will be an interval between the two performances where we ask audiences to leave the auditorium.

We have a special ticket offer for schools and community groups, for more information please email boxoffice@kent.ac.uk

Sycamore Gap by Al Smith – Performed by Holcombe Grammar School

A whodunnit about the felling of the Robin Hood Tree at Sycamore Gap. Set on the day after the felling, the local police are ‘in school’ conducting an investigation. The twelve members of the school’s eco-club are held in a classroom, being taken out and interviewed one by one, until the culprit cracks and confesses. While they wait for their turn, the pupils interrogate each other. Who could have done something so monstrous? What possible motivation could they have had? What impact will it have on their club and their community, now that the tree is gone? And will it be possible for any of them to move on?

• Recommended for ages: 14+
  Content guidance:
  o Some references to violence and brutality
  o Allusions to porn addiction
  o Themes or references to the climate emergency, cancer, anxiety, panic attacks,
  and police brutality

The Animals by Sean Buckley, performed by Dane Court Grammar School

Student teacher Sam arrives at Redhill Youth Custody Secure Unit hoping to enrich the troubled resident’s lives there by introducing them to the subject of Philosophy. The wary class resist engaging in this alien, ancient art of thinking, at first, but start to thaw when they find themselves being challenged and empowered in ways they haven’t previously experienced. Yet the hope Sam’s teaching offers them is fragile, particularly for hard fronting Gee, who’s on the verge of being released from the unit and is secretly terrified at this prospect. The Animals looks at education within the Youth Custody System and the difficulties young people there face.

• Recommended for ages: 15+
  Content guidance:
  o Contains frequent strong language (clean version available)
  o Mild sexual references
  o Allusion to suicide (offstage)
  o Reference to self-harm (unseen)
  o References to youth violence
  o References to drug use (unseen/offstage)
  o Allusions to gang involvement