Video: Kildare Youth Theatre at the National Theatre in London 2019

Every year, Kildare Youth Theatre partakes in the National Theatre's Connections Festival. As part of the festival, youth theatres across the UK and Ireland select from 10 specially written brand new plays every year to perform.

The Small Hours, directed by Peter Hussey and Shane Hickey O'Mara and written by Katherine Soper, was Kildare Youth Theatre's 33rd Connections play to be performed. In 2019 our production was one of 10 to be selected from over 200 performed in Ireland and Britain. It was subsequently invited to be staged in the Dorfman Theatre in The National in London on 27th June 2019. The last time Kildare Youth Theatre achieved this feat was in 2015 with Hospital Food.

The cast were brought together on the premise of having a 'reflection' on the play, and were instead told that they would be spending a weekend in London to perform the play.

Check out an edited video of their reaction, and the trip - featuring interviews from the directors and cast members - above or on our YouTube page.

Read more on our production of The Small Hours, including the cast, on our 2019 archive.

Video recorded and produced by our Videographer Alec Delaney, with sound by Cormac Dowdall.