Positive Stories For Negative Times season 4 has featured a unique commission from young writer, Hannah Low. We caught up with her to hear about the process and what she's looking forward to when her new play is brought to life by young people across Scotland in just a few months time!
1. For those who are unfamiliar, can you tell us a bit about your Young Writer Commission and what made you want to get involved with PSFNT?
Positive Stories For Negative Times is an international participatory project by Wonder Fools, in association with the Traverse Theatre, for young people aged 6 - 25. It gives them free access to a collection of new plays, written by industry professionals, created specifically for them and the times the times they are living in.
I first heard about the young writer commission opportunity through an open call launched early 2024. I already knew a bit about the project after working on some of the scripts from the previous seasons with young people. I was really excited to have the chance to apply and start thinking up different ideas for my proposal, especially after seeing the value and impact this of this work first hand.
The application process was really simple. I had to submit a short cover letter and a treatment for the play I wanted to write. After that I was invited to interview with the Wonder Fools team and a member of their youth board.
I was absolutely delighted to find out I was chosen for the commission, I am really passionate about making high quality, engaging, accessible work for young people. So this felt like a huge step forward in my career as a playwright.
2. Can you tell us a bit about the play you’ve written as part of Positive Stories For Negative Times season 4?
Careful What You Wish For is a ‘paint’ your own adventure story for theatre makers aged 6 + , inspired by the traditional Chinese folktale The Magic Paintbrush. It features a cast of crazy characters, talking paintings, monstrous mythical creatures and all the young peoples wishes brought to life on stage. It’s a funny, imaginative, interactive new play with an accompanying process drama. It operates a little bit like those old Goosebumps books, by allowing the young people to choose what actually happens in their play.
The process drama includes a variety of activities that will encourage young people to think about the play's themes, visual world-building, characters and story. I wanted to make sure that Careful What You Wish For could be made easily accessible to as many young people as possible whether they want to learn lines, improvise, make the props and set, create the music or enjoy the different sensory experiences of painting and performance. There is truly something for everyone and the process drama is there to support both the facilitators and young people to engage with the play however they want to, without the expectation of ‘putting on a show’ or ‘sticking to the script’.
3. What was your starting point for writing the play and what sort of references and research did you draw upon?
As mentioned previously, Careful What You Wish For is inspired by the traditional Chinese folktale The Magic Paintbrush, which is a story I loved growing up. In the original tale, a young boy is gifted a paintbrush in a dream and is instructed to paint from the heart. When he wakes, he realises he has actually been gifted a magic paintbrush and discovers that everything he paints will come to life.
I really wanted to create something where young people could use their imagination, explore things that they think are important, and engage with different cultural artforms in an accessible, authentic way.
So this folktale felt like the perfect starting point to allow me to achieve all these things.
The play also weaves together moments from other children’s stories too! Think Famous Five, meets Night At The Museum, meets Lord Of The Flies. I loved revisiting these classics and pulling elements of them into my new, interactive play!
4. What do you envision when you think about the performances young people will create with your script?
Due to the nature of my script, I’m sure every group's performance, or exploration of the story, will be inherently different to the next! I’m really excited to see what these differences actually are and all the cool ways the young people have chosen to bring paintings to life on stage!But most importantly, the play and PSFNT, was created to give young people the chance to have loads and loads and loads of fun! So when I envision young people working on my play, that’s what I like to picture. Lots of smiles, lots of laughing, lots of silliness.
5. How have you found working on this commission compared to other projects that you’ve worked on?
This process has been so different to anything I’ve worked on before!
I have lots of experience making work for young audiences and working creatively with young people - but this was my first time writing something that they themselves would be performing, or exploring.
It was also my first time working with the Wonder Fools Youth Board - who read every draft of my play and offered up their own dramaturgical thoughts and ideas. I absolutely loved these sessions and think it’s so important and impactful to have the voices of other young people fed in through this process. It’s really special and a huge part of what makes this work so fantastic!
6. What compels you as a writer?
I think what compels me the most as a writer is the belief that everyone deserves to see a version of themselves represented on stage. So a lot of my work is centred around finding exciting ways to tell new stories, or exploring the stories we already know, but telling them from new perspectives.
I also love creating multi-disciplinary work, with most of my plays in development incorporating live music and visual storytelling. I think theatre should always be a spectacle but it also needs to have truth in it, it needs to say something real about our world. That’s super important to me as a playwright.
7. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given as a writer?
Genuinely - that playwriting is hard.
I will never get tired of being told it and reminded that it’s not just me who spends a full day redrafting the same scene over and over again!
8. What theatre or cultural experience do you think has most influenced your artistry?
In 2024 I was lucky enough to receive funding to take a research trip to Hong Kong, supported by Vanishing Point, Imaginate and Creative Scotland.
It was an amazing opportunity to be given the space, time and resource to connect with my heritage, see performance work in Hong Kong and connect with international arts organisations.
The trip had such a huge impact on my work. I left with a whole new perspective on why I write what I write, and where my work could take me in the future.
I feel so privileged to have had such a life changing experience this early in my career, and I am so grateful to all the artists and organisations who championed my work and made something like this possible for someone like me, who would have never been able to achieve it on my own.
9. You have worked with the Traverse a few times, including our Traverse Young Writersand Creating Space projects. What is it like to have worked in these groups to now having your first commissioned play be through our PSFNT project?
Coming from a performance background, I had never had any writing experience prior to getting involved with Traverse Young Writers, so those ten weeks were instrumental to the development of my practise as a playwright. Returning to the Traverse a year later as part of the Creating Space project allowed me to consolidate what I had learned previously and take bigger risks with my writing. So having my first professional commission in association with the Traverse feels like a wonderful full circle moment for me! I love Scottish theatre and these fantastic projects played a huge part in making me feel like my voice belonged within it.
10. What message would you like to send the young people participating in PSFNT?
Have loads of fun, cause lots of chaos, and be careful what you wish for!
I cant wait to see what you all create together!