Sparkleshark

Philip Ridley's Sparkleshark was originally a play commissioned for BT National Connections, the National Theatre's youth theatre scheme which ran from 1993-1999. Sparkleshark is funny, poignant and had an acclaimed run at the Royal National Theatre followed by a tour in 2001.

High up on a tower block roof, Jake writes magical and fantastic stories in secret. The boys think he's a wimp. But to the girls Jake's almost one of them. When the gang of boys actually arrive, though, everyone's in for a great surprise. To save himself, Jake weaves his best story yet. It is so good that the gang drop their tough trendy act and demand starring roles in the unfolding drama of mystery, danger, love... and the final encounter with Sparkleshark. Eventually they make a pact to meet up every week as a group and tell stories together.

Sparkleshark's debut was at the Royal National Theatre in 1997, performed by [http://www.youthlyric.co.uk Youth Lyric] , [http://www.lyrictheatre.co.uk Lyric Theatre] , Belfast. The show was awarded first prize at BT National Connections [http://website-archive2.nt-online.org/?lid=2487 (1)] , receiving a notable standing ovation [http://website-archive.nt-online.org/education/sparkle/sparkleshark.html (2)] [http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:sn-RsH_dNd8J:www.irishnews.com/pageacc.asp%3Ftser1%3Dser%26par%3Dben%26sid%3D356365+sparkleshark+youth+lyric&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=uk (3)] . Following the show, Ridley published a book of his short plays, citing each member of the Youth Lyric cast as a thank you to their work. The cast played the show for a further three years. Since 1997, Sparklehsark has had many productions around the world, including at the Australian Theatre for Young People, one of the world's largest youth theatres.

The play is set on the rooftop of a tower block in the East End of London. It is sunny and set in Mid-September. The whole play only has 9 characters, meaning it has very few roles:

Jake: 14 years old - the 'geek'

Polly: 15 years old - the 'nice girl'

Natasha: 15 years old - the 'cool girl'

Carol: 14 years old - the 'wannabe'

Russel: 15 years old - the 'bully'

Buzz & Speed: 14 years old - the 'wannabes'

Shane: 16 years old - the 'older cool guy'

& Finn: 14 years old - the 'scruffy bullied one'