Presented by Nabokov

By Mike Bartlett
Directed by James Grieve
Designed by Lucy Osborne

Sixteen-year-old Kelly is a typical South London teenager, English through and through. Until her unknown father turns up out of the blue, and turns out to be Iraqi. He wants her to accept a gift of a priceless antique from the Baghdad Museum. She wants him to stay and get to know her.

Kelly embarks on an epic journey of discovery in a tender and provocative play about family, identity and the clash of cultures from the pen of  "one of the most exciting new talents to emerge in recent times"   THE STAGE.

Mike Bartlett is currently the Pearson Playwright in Residence at The Royal Court Theatre where his debut play, My Child , premiered in 2006. Nabokov's last production, the World Premiere of Terre Haute by Edmund White, premiered at The Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, prior to a National Tour and West End run.

Bartlett's writing towers above everything: ambitious, troubling, and true
THE GUARDIAN

Recommended for everyone aged 14+

James Seabright Presents

Adapted from the journals of Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott by G.M Calhoun

Two invincible explorers. One final conquest.

This new drama from a multiple Fringe First winning team charts the incredible journey of two of the world's most revered explorers. Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott were heroes from a time when the world had just one remaining corner to be conquered – the South Pole.

Based on their actual expedition diaries, this show interweaves the two journeys into a thrilling story of adventure and extreme human endeavour, transporting us to an alien landscape as unimaginably hostile as it is awe-inspiring.

The journey ended in victory for just one team. But could the other cope with being ‘the last south'?

The use of the eloquent words of the explorers themselves gives this engaging production real gravitas
METRO

There is much humour, but it is their accounts of the return journeys that are the most poignant
EVENING STANDARD

Hoipolloi and The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich present

Winner Fringe First 2007

Last year, Hugh Hughes delighted Plymouth with his first show, Floating. Now the emerging Welsh performance artist returns to the Drum Theatre with STORY OF A RABBIT, his brand new award-winning show.

When Hugh finds his neighbour's rabbit lying dead in his garden, the only sensible thing to do is to put it in a box. But it doesn't fit. As he puzzles over what to do with the body he starts to wonder how much of life disappears once we die…

Combining Hugh's uniquely charming theatricality and his best friend Aled's music, STORY OF A RABBIT lifts the lid on life's final mystery.

A comic and curiously uplifting new show celebrating the complexities of death.

This is heartfelt and insightful stuff that has great power to move. Highly recommended
EVENING STANDARD

Scamp Theatre present

By Michael Morpurgo
Directed by Sally Cookson
Designed by Katie Sykes
Composed by Benji Bower
Performed by Chris Bianchi, Benji Bower & Tom Wainwright

Three actors and a one-man-band combine with a host of colourful characters to magically recreate the most enchanting stories ever told.  Fantastic family entertainment.

Michael Morpurgo's brand new retellings of Aesop's Fables include The Hare And The Tortoise, The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg  & The Boy Who Cried Wolf. 

Side-splitting, appeals as much to adults as their offspring
THE STAGE

Charmed by these fabulous fables.  A real hit 
DAILY MAIL

A wonderful piece of theatre for children or for adults
RITISH THEATRE GUIDE

Aesop's Fables is the perfect example of how to entertain adults and children at the same time. Produced by Scamp Theatre, the company who brought us the wonderful Private Peaceful last year, this is one not to miss
THE LIST

Recommended for children aged 4+and their friends and families

Running time Approx 1 hour (no interval)

Third Angel, in association with Sheffield Theatres, presents

A table.  Six chairs.  Precariously carried, precisely placed.  Start the scene: After the guests have gone.  Stop. More furniture required.  Start again.  From the top.

Tom and Beth, the generic thirty somethings of our time. A couple who have been building a life together for the past seven years, buying lots of stuff, sharing friends and acquiring memories. Two people who have been gradually talking less, but slowly wanting more.

It's a story about love. Not romantic, thrill of passion love, not unconditional unquestioned love, but everyday, what shall we have for dinner, will you be in later, expecting to go on living together – well what else would we do? – love.

Internationally acclaimed company Third Angel deconstructs a relationship, and the theatrical tricks used to represent it, with inimitable humour, visual flair and a beautifully intimate performance style.

Clever, honest
THE GUARDIAN

Hugely engaging...immensely watchable
CULTURE WARS

Recommended for everyone aged 15+

Running time Approx 72mins (no interval)

National Theatre

New Connections supported by Bank of America is the world's most ambitious new writing programme for young actors creating theatre.

Produced by the National Theatre, the programme gives 11-19 year olds the chance to work on challenging new plays both on stage and behind the scenes.

This year the Theatre Royal Plymouth is proud to be the regional venue for Connections in the South West. Six youth groups from across the South West will
perform new pieces of work written by some of this country's leading playwrights.

Participating Groups
Looe Community School
West Exe College
Kernow Youth Theatre
Stage by Stage
Queen Elizabeth College
Grenville College

Plays
Arden City by Timberlake Wertenbaker
It Snows by Bryony Lavery,
Steven Hogget and Scott Graham
Vampire Story by Moira Buffini
Book of Everything by Peter Tabern

Wed 25 Jun
Looe Community School - Arden City
West Exe College - It Snows

Thu 26 Jun
Kernow Youth Theatre - Vampire Story
Stage By Stage - Book of Everything

Fri 27 Jun
Queen Elizabeth College - It Snows
Grenville College - Book of Everything

Playhouse returns for 2008 with fresh vigour and an exciting blend of new plays and Primary Schools.

Playhouse gives teachers from schools across the UK a chance to direct a play by one of the country's leading playwrights, with professional support from Theatre Royal Plymouth, Polka Theatre, York Theatre Royal and Dundee Rep.

The plays engage with social, ethical and moral issues that challenge and inspire young casts.  The project is proven to successfully develop new teaching methods and raise the confidence and creativity of teachers and young people alike.

Six schools local to Plymouth perform six new plays in a three day Festival in The Drum Theatre, celebrating the creativity and imagination of everyone taking part.

Participating Schools and their Plays
Lady Modiford's CofE Primary School - Maddy and The Invisible Band of Groovers by Alex Bulmer
Holy Cross RC Primary School - Maudie and the Green Children by Adrian Mitchell with music by Andy Roberts
Newton Ferrers CofE Primary School - Zed's Run by Simon Turley
North Prospect Community School - The Forest by Deborah Gearing
College Road Primary School - Small Fry by Neil Duffield
Plym View Primary School - Storm Birds by Nicola McCartney

By Arthur Miller
Directed By Geoff Strickland

In a soon-to-be-demolished family house, two brothers meet again after many years to dispose of their dead parents' property. Their confrontation leads them to examine the events and qualities of their very different lives – and the price that each of them has had to pay.

This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Josef Weinberger Limited.

Western College Players present Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca

A play adapted by Clifford Evans
Directed by Jill Nicholas

Daphne du Maurier's popular psychological thriller has been adapted by Clifford Williams losing none of the romance, tension and atmosphere of the novel. The story of Maxim de Winter's second wife slowly piecing together her husband's tragic and unhappy past married to the beautiful but treacherous REBECCA is as moving and exciting as ever. Strongly drawn characters including the obsessed and malicious housekeeper, Mrs Danvers, will give romance and thrills alike to audiences.

Sponsored by the Plymouth and South West Cooperative Society LTD

Jealousy, revenge and betrayal flood through Euripides' play based on the Greek myth of Jason and Medea.

Following on from the adventures of Jason and the Golden Fleece – a story made famous in the classic film, Jason and the Argonauts – Medea sets out on a
path of destruction and unspeakable violence to enact revenge on the man she loves.

Considered to be one of the most influential plays in western culture, MEDEA explores passion in its secret folds, allowing audiences to decide for themselves whether Medea is a victim of male oppression or a cold hearted criminal.

The Young Company return to the Drum stage this summer, building upon their reputation as one of the leading youth theatre companies in the country.