UK playwrights gift new plays to young people in nationwide project
Harriet Clifford
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Glasgow theatre company Wonder Fools in association with Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre has enlisted UK playwrights to create a programme of five plays to be gifted to 8 - 25 year-olds to perform and adapt as they wish, for free.
Entitled Positive Stories for Negative Times, the programme has already seen 107 groups from 51 schools, theatres and community groups sign up in the six weeks since it was announced. The project was conceptualised in direct response to the lack of physical spaces for young people to participate in creative activities currently and acknowledges the impact this may have on mental health and wellbeing.
Upon signing up, schools and other groups will have free access to the five new plays, including a framework of how to rehearse, direct and record the works, with specific guidance on how to deliver the project in total lockdown. Teachers and group leaders will also be provided with a handbook to help them deliver the work either in-person or remotely.
The playwrights are Sabrina Mahfouz, Stef Smith, Chris Thorpe, Bea Webster, Robbie Gordon (Wonder Fools), and Jack Nurse (Wonder Fools).
Jack Nurse said, ‘We are absolutely delighted to be working with such a brilliant selection of writers who are some of our favourite voices working in the UK today. The plays are all incredibly different but equally full of interesting stories, exciting forms and searching questions about this extraordinary moment we are all living through.’
Suzie Lundy, curriculum leader of music and drama at Edinburgh’s Royal High School said, ‘Positive Stories for Negative Times is a wonderful project providing a platform for young people’s creativity and engagement at a time when they need it most. The coronavirus pandemic has limited their lives and their opportunities through the impact of lockdown and ongoing restrictions, not least through the closures of theatres and other creative venues.
‘The Wonder Fools project gives them back the chance to create their own work and engage with professionals in the industry. It is innovative and exciting in its design and we are thrilled to be able to participate.’
Through working with individuals from isolated areas, marginalised groups and vulnerable young people, it is hoped that Positive Stories for Negative Times will provide a new outlet to nurture creativity, encourage the exchange of new skills and ideas, and build a safe space online that could have a genuine impact on young people during this challenging time.
The plays, which are described as politically urgent and stand up against oppression, are:
Bad Bored Women of the Rooms by Sabrina Mahfouz (18+) - a storytelling adventure through the centuries of women and girls who have spent a lot of time stuck in a room.
The Pack by Stef Smith (13+) - a playful and poetic exploration about getting lost in the loneliness of your living room and trying to find your way home.
Hold Out Your Hand by Chris Thorpe (13+) - a dynamic text that questions where we are now and the moment we are living through.
Is This A Fairytale? By Bea Webster (8+) - a fairytale turned inside out in a surprising, inventive and unconventional way. Think damsel in distress, dragons, distinguished knights and depression.
Ozymandias by Robbie Gordon and Jack Nurse (16+) - a contemporary story inspired by Percy Shelley’s 19th century poem of the same name. A group of ordinary young people hatch a daring plan to do something extraordinary.
The project runs through to March 2021, so new groups can register now.