Writers: Amanda Verlaque/ Gary McNair
Directors: Bernadette Brown and Alison McCrudden/Steve Lauder-Russell and Maddie Grieve
As the National Theatre Connections festival reaches its final stages, the quality of the shows, all by school or youth theatre groups, remains undiminished. The penultimate night belongs to Brassneck Youth from Belfast and Glasgow Acting Academy.
Brassneck performs Normalised by Northern Irish writer Amanda Verlaque, and the play’s themes of homophobia and urban development are exactly the right subjects for such a festival that marries established playwrights with youth theatre companies. The story begins a year after Colm has died in a car crash, and his unofficial shrine in the Meadows, a green space, is tended daily by his boyfriend Jay. But the shrine is often vandalised and Jay suspects that Colm’s twin brother Jamesy, who never accepted his brother’s queerness, is behind the desecration.
One day at the shrine, Jay finds out that the Meadows have been earmarked for new homes. Worrying that Colm’s shrine will be destroyed in the redevelopment, he organises a protest group to protect the fields which have been common land for centuries. Fionn McQuillan really grows into the role of Jay, finding confidence and authority in the same way as the character does in his position of activist leader. As the villainous and swaggering Jamsey, Lile Loughlin demonstrates a keen talent for comedy, cheekily stealing every entrance.
There’s good work, too, from Naoise Murphy, who plays Colm and Jamesy’s other brother Bo, and from Carla Green as Maddie, Jay’s impertinent friend. Mollie Russell is brilliant as the bossy and officious Sam, who films every confrontation for the school radio. They are supported by a strong, hardworking ensemble.
Glasgow Acting Academy performs the phenomenal No Regrets by Scottish playwright Gary McNair, and it certainly creates a buzz around the Dorfman Theatre. A kind of verbatim play, the many short scenes are the result of McNair interviewing a variety of people on what they regret. At first, the regrets are unspoken as we see what happens just before things go wrong. One character convinces her friend that she’s capable of dealing with a fault in the electrics; another character tells her date that she’s fine to walk home in the dark.
But at other times, No Regrets is very funny as the actors in this young 13-strong company take their time in choosing between different ice cream flavours or degrees of heat of spicy dressings. One man’s only regret is getting caught, while another man suggests that living with regrets is like having cousins. Each scene only lasts a few minutes, but the actors, tightly choreographed as they march across the stage, never let the energy flag.
Directors Steve Lauder-Russell and Maddie Grieve bring a couple of the unrelated stories together. A fishing rod mentioned in an earlier scene appears in reality as one actor carries it across the stage. Another time, two actors who were earlier playing mother and son come onto stage and hug as if they have now made up before they take on other roles. A jumper is shared. Each of the young actors nails their characters completely, including the mouthy schoolgirl, the confused teacher, the conflicted punk singer, the couple on their first date at the cinema, and the convicted criminal.
So good in this production – there is not a single weak link – that the National could easily stage this at the Dorfman from Monday. Both of these well-made shows prove that there’s talent and theatre beyond the capital.
Reviewed on 27 June 2025
The National Theatre Connections Festival runs until 28 June 2025
