Drawing together the work of 10 leading playwrights, this National Theatre Connections anthology features work by some of the most exciting and established contemporary playwrights. Gathered together in one volume, the plays collected offer young performers between the ages of 13 and 19 an engaging selection of material to perform, read or study. Each play has been specifically commissioned by the National Theatre's literary department with the young performer in mind. The anthology contains 10 play scripts; notes from the writer and director of each play, addressing the themes and ideas behind the play; and production notes and exercises for the drama groups. This year's anniversary anthology includes plays by Suhayla El-Bushra, Anders Lustgarten, Robin French, Tim Etchells, Patrick Marber, Kellie Smith, Lizzie Nunnery, Harriet Braun and Alistair McDowall.

I'm a number's person. Always have been. Eve's been doing the maths her whole life. But when the squeeze comes, how do you balance a life that doesn't add up and a family that refuses to read the bottom line? A play with songs about searching for the magic formula in hard times, The Sum by Lizzie Nunnery premiered at Liverpool Everyman in May 2017.

Could peace come after? After what? Who will we be? Easter morning, 1916. Gunshots ring out in the Dublin streets. In her suburban sitting-room Hanna prepares for revolution. Frank walks through the crowds calling for peace, while John recalls the trenches and sees a city soaked in blood. Eighteen-year-old William fearfully reports to the barracks for duty, determined to serve the British army with honour. Inspired by true events, this absorbing play weaves movement and folk song into a stirring tale of militarism, corruption and the power of rebellion. Lizzie Nunnery's To Have to Shoot Irishmen premiered at the Omnibus Theatre, London, in October 2018, the first date in an Almanac Arts UK tour.

If I was to throw myself beneath that tide... If I was to let the water take me, 'til the cold felt like heat, like love... Present day, Liverpool. All alone, an old man falls in a basement and loses consciousness. World War Two, Norway. A young sailor with a heart full of hope, longing and courage falls in love. Narvik tells the story of a Liverpudlian man and a Norwegian woman pulled together and torn apart by war as the events of one summer cause ripples across an ocean of time. Inspired by the tales of navy veterans, this is a play where music and words meet, a powerful story of love, guilt, heroism and betrayal. Narvik was nominated for Best New Play in the 2017 UK Theatre Awards.

Canaan thought he'd left a violent and dangerous past behind when he and his son arrived from Zimbabwe, until new case worker Martha decides to re-examine his refugee status and he's forced to fight for their lives for a second time. But when lives depend on it, is the truth always the best story to tell? As he opens up his past, Martha moves from trusting his word to suspecting him of lying and as this psychological thriller progresses she begins to confront terrible events happening in her own life--but are either of them who they seem, and is the truth ever a simple story?

Set in a Liverpool in September 1854, St Georges Hall is about to open to huge celebration, the city is reaching a peak of trading success and redevelopment is everywhere, but for a family living in a back street cellar room in the midst of a cholera epidemic, the obstacles to change come as much from within as without.

"Easter morning, 1916. Gunshots ring out in the Dublin streets. In her suburban sitting-room Hanna prepares for revolution. Frank walks through the crowds calling for peace, while John recalls the trenches and sees a city soaked in blood. 18-year-old William fearfully reports to the barracks for duty, determined to serve the British army with honour. Inspired by true events, this absorbing play weaves movement and folk song into a stirring tale of militarism, corruption and the power of rebellion."--

Present day, Liverpool. All alone, an old man falls in a basement and loses consciousness. World War Two, Norway. A young sailor with a heart full of hope, longing and courage falls in love. 'Narvik' tells the story of a Liverpudlian man and a Norwegian woman pulled together and torn apart by war as the events of one summer cause ripples across an ocean of time. Inspired by the tales of navy veterans, this is a play where music and words meet, a powerful story of love, guilt, heroism, and betrayal.