NYTP  (Northern Youth Theatre Project) – Edinburgh Fringe Preview Event at Star & Shadow Cinema, Warwick Street, Newcastle

Sunday 14th July 2019 7.30pm - £5 

On 14th July we will be presenting an exclusive preview of excerpts from the world premiere of our new version of Alice Birch’s [BLANK] before we take the show up to the Fringe in August.

This production is a challenging collection of loosely related scenes telling stories of life when adults feel absent from it.

There will also be live music from young local musicians including former NYTP member Zak Younger Banks and a chance to grab a drink at the Star and Shadow bar and chat with the company afterwards.

 

NYTP at the Fringe

In 2017, NYTP took Bassett, a searing drama about children, politics and war by multi-award-winning playwright James Graham, to the Edinburgh Fringe – a bold move for a group of teenagers from the Toon. It was such a success that we've decided to go again.

Everyone in NYTP is really excited to be returning to Edinburgh in 2019 for a whole week, 19-24 August, at a great venue, Studio@SpaceTriplex (Venue 38). This year we're taking our challenging production of Alice Birch’s [BLANK]. Alice, a BAFTA-nominated writer, created [BLANK] for NT Connections and for Clean Break, a theatre company that works with women in the criminal justice system.

 

[BLANK] is written as a collection of scenes, from which NYTP constructed our own thought-provoking play with original music by the cast. Our first performance was at Northern Stage in 2018. Very generously, on hearing about our production for the Fringe, Alice agreed to waive her fee. 

 

Background

NYTP is Northern Youth Theatre Project, a registered charitable organisation since 2017 (no 1173526). Founded seven years ago in Newcastle upon Tyne, NYTP welcomes young people of all abilities and disabilities to participate and work together to create high-quality pieces of theatre and to showcase the region's talent on a national platform. We don't audition or charge fees. But with no regular funding, we have to work hard to cover the costs of all our projects. 

 

Since starting up in 2012 using space at Heaton Manor School, the company has performed every year at Northern Stage as part of National Theatre Connections. In 2015 we also performed in Manchester as part of RSC Open Stages and were selected to perform at Stratford upon Avon in the RSC Summer Season.

 

After changes at the school created uncertainty for the group's future, we started meeting at Hotspur School and parents and young members got together and formed a registered charity, ensuring everyone could continue to benefit from NYTP's unique young-person-led approach to skills building and shared experiences. All of our members take responsibility as a team, on stage and off, and several serve on our board of trustees, putting them at the heart of our governance and strategy. 

 

 

PRESS RELEASE FOR EDINBURGH:

 

NYTP presents

 [BLANK]

by Alice Birch and NYTP

 

An unflinching insight into the lives of children without adults

 

What do teenagers do when adults can’t be there for them?

How will they cope with life’s emotional and practical challenges?

What happens when they can’t?

 

For the National Theatre’s Connections festival, award-winning playwright and screenwriter Alice Birch (Lady Macbeth, Revolt, She Said, We Want You to Watch) worked with prison theatre company Clean Break to write [BLANK], a collection of uncompromisingly observed scenes that cast a spotlight into the hidden world of children without adults. Adapted, constructed and performed by a cast of young people from the north east of England, NYTP’s production is unforgettable for its evocation of trauma, resilience, friendship and hope.

 

Northern Youth Theatre Project was founded in 2012, attached to a large comprehensive school in Newcastle upon Tyne, before becoming an independent registered charity. Welcoming young people of all abilities and disabilities, with no fees or auditions, the group is run by its members. Since its first production, a workshopped piece about the 2011 riots, NYTP has participated in NT Connections every year – performing at Newcastle’s Northern Stage – and in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Open Stages, presenting its own abridgement of Macbeth at The Dell, Stratford-upon-Avon. In 2017, NYTP brought James Graham’s hard-hitting Bassett, dealing with the impact of war and politics on children, to the Fringe.

 

Listings information

 

Venue         theSpace Triplex – Studio (Venue 38)

Address      The Prince Philip Building, 19 Hill Place, Edinburgh EH8 9DP

Dates         Mon-Sat 19-24 August 2019

Time  17:05

Running time        50 minutes

Ticket prices        £8 (concessions £6, families £5.50, Friends 2for1)

Venue box office 0131 510 2395 / email: boxoffice.triplex@thespaceuk.com

Fringe box office 0131 226 0000 / www: tickets.edfringe.com