After months of rehearsal and preparation, the A Level Drama students from Ark 6th Form East Sussex, performed a play entitled ‘Bassett’ at the Brighton Dome Theatre as part of the National Theatre’s ‘Connections’ festival. This was a challenging new play written by James Graham, a nationally renowned writer.

Connections is a nationwide youth theatre festival. Each year it offers a unique opportunity for youth theatres and school theatre groups to stage new plays written for young people by some of theatre’s most exciting playwrights, and to perform in leading theatres across the UK.

A visiting director from the National Theatre described the play as ‘powerful and convincing’ and praised the quality of the performance by the students.

The students all said they were exhilarated after the performance and expressed how wonderful it felt to perform on a professional stage.

Drama Teacher Niall Whitehead said, “I was thrilled with the performance of our students. At Ark 6th Form we help our students to go further by taking every opportunity to participate in exciting events so they can reach their full potential.”