EACH year the National Theatre commissions ten new one-hour plays, specially written for young people by established playwrights. They then select 250 plus schools and Youth Theatre Groups throughout the country to produce these works with specialist help from their directors and experts.

Ilkley Players are proud to have been selected to participate, and will be producing one of these plays, “Chaos” by Laura Lomas, to be presented in their Wildman Studio in late February/early March 2019, for three performances. Andrew Leggott and Lisa Debney, Greenroom Tutors, will direct.

The play will then be transferred to York Theatre Royal Studio Theatre, for one performance in late April/early May 2019, as part of their festival of 22 youth productions.

Ten plays out of the 250 nationwide will then be selected to go on to be presented in London, at the National Theatre itself, on the South Bank, in early summer.

This is how Laura Lomas, author of “Chaos”, describes her excellent and stimulating work:

“A girl is locked in a room. A boy brings another boy flowers. A girl has tied herself to a railing. A boy doesn’t know who he is. A girl worries about impending catastrophe. A woman jumps in front of a train. A boy’s heart falls out of his chest. A butterfly has a broken wing.

“Chaos” is a symphony of dislocated and interconnected scenes. A series of characters searching for meaning in a complicated and unstable world. Bouncing through physics, the cosmos, love and violence, they find order in the disorder of each other.”

The flexible cast can be anywhere up to 30 youngsters aged 13 to 19. A casting readthrough will be held at noon on Saturday, November 17 2018, at the Playhouse, and those within the 13 -19 age range by May next year are invited to attend and read for a part along with regular Greenroom members.

The commitment is to attend rehearsals up to three times a week from mid-January, and then a few more before the York performance. Not all the cast will be required at every rehearsal. These will take place at Ilkley Playhouse in the early evening on weeknights between 5.30pm and 7.15 pm. There will be a few Sunday afternoon rehearsals in addition.

If you have any queries, contact Andrew Leggott a.leggott1@btinternet.com Telephone 01943 602014