Positive Stories For Negative Times

Positive Stories for Negative Times collects five exciting new plays for young people by top UK playwrights, written specifically for remote performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, and accompanied by a detailed handbook for drama teachers and group leaders on how to rehearse and perform the plays online.

Five exciting new plays for young people written specifically in response to a world in the midst of a pandemic, accompanied by a handbook from Wonder Fools theatre company with guidance for staging the plays either online or live in the space.

Commissioned as part of Wonder Fools' national participatory project Positive Stories for Negative Times, these five plays offer a variety of stories, styles and forms for ages 8-25. These original and innovative plays are:

Is This A Fairytale? by Bea Websater
A new play that rips apart the traditional fairy tale canon and turns it on its head in a surprising, inventive and unconventional way. Ages 8+

Hold Out Your Hand by Chris Thorpe
A dynamic text asking questions about place, where we are now and the moment we are living through. Ages 13+

The Pack by Stef Smith
A playful and poetic exploration about getting lost in the loneliness of your living room and trying to find your way home. Ages 13+

Ozymandias by Robbie Gordon and Jack Nurse
A contemporary story inspired by Percy Shelley’s 19th century poem of the same name, exploring power, oppression and racism through the eyes of young people. Ages 16+

Bad Bored Women of the Rooms by Sabrina Mahfouz
A storytelling adventure through the centuries of women and girls who have spent a lot of time stuck in a room. Ages 18+

The accompanying handbook includes step-by-step guidance on how to produce the plays either online or live in the space, and bespoke exercises and instructions on how to approach directing each play.