New Views is the National Theatre's annual playwriting competition for 14-19 year olds. Students in schools and colleges across the UK have the opportunity to take part in an online writing course, visits to productions at the NT and workshops with professional playwrights. Isabel Hague, a 16 year-old student from CAPA College in Wakefield, was the winner of this year's festival, her play being selected from 350 entries from across the UK. Whilst Hague's play has been produced on a professional scale - fit with a complete stage design and performed by professional actors - the eight other shortlisted plays are performed as rehearsed readings. This competition not only gives young people an opportunity to have their plays shown at the National Theatre and to make their voices and their perceptions of the world heard, but it also provides the participants with the incredible opportunity to be mentored by professional playwrights and to watch productions of NT plays or live broadcasts.
Hague's play If Not Now, When? focuses on the life of young Liam, a 15 year old boy struggling with alcohol misuse and becoming increasingly intrenched in a deep depression. The play explores the relationship between him and his younger sister Chelsey who, at the age of 14, is faced with the burden of having to look after him. Within the overarching focus on the relationship between the siblings, the play also looks into other relationships - between Liam and his Mum, and between Chelsey and her manipulative boyfriend Connor. To me, the play seemed to be an exploration of relationships and interactions and how these can affect your life, as opposed to telling a story with a strict "beginning, middle and end" structure. This far more explorative structure is highly difficult to execute, but Hague pulls it off with her sophisticated writing.
Hague's text was intricate and believable. None of the jokes or conversations between the characters seemed at all forced or unnatural, instead it was very realistic. Importantly, the characters were so tangible, each one multi-faceted - they all had moments of weakness and they all went on a journey, making the audience feel invested in every scene and every interaction. One particular relationship that stood out to me was between Chelsey and her boyfriend Connor. The toxicity of their relationship was hinted at towards the beginning of the play, but it slowly became more apparent as time progressed how dangerous the relationship was. It was not over-dramatized in the slightest, and so you could sense how uncomfortable the audience became whenever the two characters interacted.
Hague also drew interesting parallels from across generations, between the relationship between Chelsey and her mother, and the relationship between Chelsey and her unborn child, offering a moment of raw emotion and creating a very heart-warming scene. The versatility of the text was another thing that made it so engaging - Hague's ability to quickly change the tone from light-hearted humour, to peaceful joy, to danger and tension, to dark monologues. These unexpected but convincing shifts were very impressive and they propelled the text forward. The only thing that I felt the script was missing was a sense of unity between some of the scenes. Each scene itself was excellent, but some scenes seemed out of place and I wasn't entirely sure what their purpose was. However, having said that, there was something very special in the quality of the text throughout.
The actors are also to be commended on their brilliant and captivating performances, bringing the text to life. Josh Barrow as Liam gave a particularly noteworthy performance, performing his monologues with real flair.
Isabel Hague's debut play is incredibly ambitious and complex, dealing with serious themes of teenage pregnancy, abusive relationships, depression and alcoholism. Congratulations go to her and I hope that this is the start of a long career!
Hague's play If Not Now, When? focuses on the life of young Liam, a 15 year old boy struggling with alcohol misuse and becoming increasingly intrenched in a deep depression. The play explores the relationship between him and his younger sister Chelsey who, at the age of 14, is faced with the burden of having to look after him. Within the overarching focus on the relationship between the siblings, the play also looks into other relationships - between Liam and his Mum, and between Chelsey and her manipulative boyfriend Connor. To me, the play seemed to be an exploration of relationships and interactions and how these can affect your life, as opposed to telling a story with a strict "beginning, middle and end" structure. This far more explorative structure is highly difficult to execute, but Hague pulls it off with her sophisticated writing.
Hague's text was intricate and believable. None of the jokes or conversations between the characters seemed at all forced or unnatural, instead it was very realistic. Importantly, the characters were so tangible, each one multi-faceted - they all had moments of weakness and they all went on a journey, making the audience feel invested in every scene and every interaction. One particular relationship that stood out to me was between Chelsey and her boyfriend Connor. The toxicity of their relationship was hinted at towards the beginning of the play, but it slowly became more apparent as time progressed how dangerous the relationship was. It was not over-dramatized in the slightest, and so you could sense how uncomfortable the audience became whenever the two characters interacted.
Hague also drew interesting parallels from across generations, between the relationship between Chelsey and her mother, and the relationship between Chelsey and her unborn child, offering a moment of raw emotion and creating a very heart-warming scene. The versatility of the text was another thing that made it so engaging - Hague's ability to quickly change the tone from light-hearted humour, to peaceful joy, to danger and tension, to dark monologues. These unexpected but convincing shifts were very impressive and they propelled the text forward. The only thing that I felt the script was missing was a sense of unity between some of the scenes. Each scene itself was excellent, but some scenes seemed out of place and I wasn't entirely sure what their purpose was. However, having said that, there was something very special in the quality of the text throughout.
The actors are also to be commended on their brilliant and captivating performances, bringing the text to life. Josh Barrow as Liam gave a particularly noteworthy performance, performing his monologues with real flair.
Isabel Hague's debut play is incredibly ambitious and complex, dealing with serious themes of teenage pregnancy, abusive relationships, depression and alcoholism. Congratulations go to her and I hope that this is the start of a long career!
Applications for New Views 2019/20 are open now! To find out more and apply, click here.
Participating schools and colleges learn about playwriting from some of the finest playwrights in the industry. Students take part in in-school workshops with professional writers, follow an online course by playwright Jemma Kennedy, working towards writing their own 30-minute plays. Teachers also receive professional development at the National Theatre at the start of the programme and partner with a professional playwright to mentor the students in school.
Participating schools and colleges learn about playwriting from some of the finest playwrights in the industry. Students take part in in-school workshops with professional writers, follow an online course by playwright Jemma Kennedy, working towards writing their own 30-minute plays. Teachers also receive professional development at the National Theatre at the start of the programme and partner with a professional playwright to mentor the students in school.