Writers: Satinder Chohan/Jane Bodie
Directors: Rosalind Greaves/Clare Ryan
Plot 1: Environmental disaster looms, and a young refugee must join forces with a talking fish. Plot 2: Popular Taylor, bedridden after an accident, is befriended by newly-arrived Willow, who talks to trees and reads actual paper books. These two striking, thoughtful new plays, performed by talented groups of young actors on the second night of Connections 2025, both explore the complexities of teenage life and the power of nature.
Connections, the National Theatre’s yearly celebration of youth theatre, has been running for three decades. Ten new scripts are commissioned each year. An engaging young cast from Abbey Grange Academy in Leeds perform Satinder Chohan’s timely work, Mia and the Fish. The story is based on the flood myth of Matsya and Manu, a Hindu parallel to Noah’s ark. This ancient parable about growth and survival is cleverly fused with pressing themes: xenophobia, alienation, exploitation, authenticity and ecological collapse. “Small boats are less dangerous than small minds,” says refugee Mia early on.
Mia Lyon, playing her namesake Mia, is the still point in a tumultuous world, channelling the mysterious voice of nature with moving simplicity. Her adaptable sister Halima (Laila Maqsood-Shah) is torn between making new friends and being a supportive sister. Deep-sea mining is causing devastation, and Eleni, played with conviction by Lydia Bailey, is organising protests. There’s a confident, spirited performance from Zuzanna Kulmaczewska as the superior, truth-twisting Paz, and Kimaita Kinuthia is excellent as likeable, compassionate Fiaz, conscientiously caring for his sick mother.
Equally impressive is the sinuous ensemble of performers, in their silk rainbow sleeves, who form the increasingly supernatural fish, Samaki. In many ways, Samaki is the hero of the show, befriending a lonely child to save the world. Some of the most effective scenes involve whole-cast movements suggesting stormy weather and crashing waves. Directors Rosalind Greaves and Pia Johansson, choreographer Louise Crowley, and technician Joseph Friend have coordinated to produce some fine dramatic sequences.
In parallel with the ecological narrative, there are allusions, both jokey and more serious, to the toxic ubiquity of social media and its pervasive influence. “Retweet to that,” says one character even when their phones have stopped working. This is a powerful show from an innovative writer and an accomplished troupe of players.
Hamilton District Youth Theatre take on Jane Bodie’s subtly powerful play The Company of Trees. Again, the environment is an important theme, but also friendship and neurodiversity. This is a drama that combines the angst and humour of teenage life with the deeper, simpler resonances of folklore. At its heart are several great performances. Bethan Coote is fresh and luminous as newcomer Willow, whose rooted and joyful communion with nature is stronger than the poisonous undertow of school politics. Top gymnast, socialite and queen bee, Taylor, played with a nuanced mix of scorn and vulnerability by Catherine Mattes, finds herself falling from her position of power after a literal fall leaves her badly injured.
Taylor’s friends agree that her accident is “totes traj”, but find themselves too busy to visit. The clever staging with a wheeled bed, complete with flowers and balloons, visually represents her isolation, while the costumes (identikit short-skirted school uniforms versus tee-shirts and trousers) do something similar in singling out Willow and other individuals.
Ewan Winchester is fabulous as snarky, flamboyant Rowan, strutting his stuff in the dance routines and cajoling the female members of the gang with “bitches – er – ladies – er – women”. Nat (Sophie Burnside), Amy (Francesca Muir) and Adele (May Duffy) all hold their own with lovely individual performances. Zahra Smith convinces as both the authoritative gym teacher and Willow’s uncaring offstage mum. Olivia Macdonald and Lucy Morison, as gamers Olive and Laurel, both have warm, engaging stage presences, helping the play shift gears as it explores different themes. Daniel Murray is amusingly and painfully evasive as Taylor’s erstwhile boyfriend Ash. It’s no coincidence that many of the characters are named after trees, and maybe ash is suffering from metaphorical die-back?
A dying elm, ley lines, a new motorway… there are eco-mystical ideas here. But there is also a focus on technology and its complicated role in our lives. With assured direction from Clare Ryan, the talented members of this young drama group deliver witty, poignant performances. There are some excellent ensemble moments, like the scene where numerous phones are pinging and beeping to a chorus of “oh my god”s and cruel laughter.
This skilled production has an engaging soundtrack featuring delicate, honest, and beautifully-modulated songs by Glasgow-based singer-songwriter Amy Papiransky, who has also written about the negative impacts of social media use. The repeated lyric: “Your mind, your way of thinking troubles me…” sets the scene for an exploration of otherness, which asks just what is normal anyway?
Reviewed on 25 June 2025
The National Theatre Connections Festival runs until 28 June 2025
