The Queen’s Theatre works with the National Theatre as part of the Theatre Nation Partnerships.

Rehearsals have begun for the National Theatre’s upcoming touring production of Evan Placey’s radical reimagining of Jekyll & Hyde. Following the success of the Jekyll & Hyde schools tour in 2022, the production will tour 5 schools in Outer East London and South Essex between 4 – 8th March through partnership with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch.

Directed by Kirsty Housley, the 9-week tour will be watched by over 10,000 students with the production visiting school halls across the country. Alongside Hornchurch, the production will be seen by students in schools across Greater Manchester, Sunderland, Leicester, Stoke, Peterborough, Wakefield, Doncaster, Wolverhampton and North Devon.

In a reimagining of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale, this new version sees Victorian England merged with the modern day as it explores how the repression of female voices can be as prevalent today as it was in the 19th century. Confronting contemporary social issues such as identity, online personas, culpability and the right to protest, the production aims to bring education beyond the classroom and inspire students to engage with topical issues through the arts.

We are also continuing our partnership with the National Theatre’s Speak Up programme in five secondary schools in Outer East London and South Essex.

Speak Up is a secondary school programme that sees young people working in collaboration with local artists and teachers to co-create artistic responses to issues that are most important to them. The programme aims to encourage new ways for young people to think, see and bring about change. From 2022 to 2025, Speak Up will engage with 140,000 young people in 55 selected secondary schools nationwide.

The Speak Up partner schools with QTH are Hornchurch High School, The Brittons Academy, Lime Academy Forest Approach, Sanders Draper and St Edward’s C of E Academy. Students have been taking part in a variety of creative sessions to empower them to tell their own stories and connect with each other and their local communities.

The young people taking part in Speak Up are currently exploring a whole range of real world issues including what it means to feel safe, the housing crisis, who holds power and who should hold power, supporting good mental health as a young person in 2023, and lots more! Each group will create a response to their chosen issue supported by professional artists which will be shared as part of Havering Speak Up Festival at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch in July 2024.

Two students from Brittons Academy sit on the Speak Up Council, putting young people at the heart of the programme’s decision making. They meet throughout the year, alongside 14 other young people from across nine of the Speak Up areas, teachers and artists.

Keep your eyes peeled for more exciting projects including a mainstage takeover with NT Connections Festival, April 2024 and our 6 partner companies – Roding Valley High School, Ormiston Rivers Academy, Shenfield High School, The King Edmund School, The Sydney Russell School and Green Shoes Arts Young Actors Club.

Kerry Hunt, Community Partnerships Manager