Interview: Positive Stories for Negative Times

BroadwayWorld caught up with Robbie and Jack from Wonder Fools about their youth arts programme Positive Stories for Negative Times

You started Positive Stories for Negative Times, an innovative youth arts programme. How did the idea come about?

The idea came right at the beginning of the first lockdown when everything stopped. From speaking to the groups of young people we work with and our colleagues in the youth arts sector we became aware of the immense impact the pandemic was happening on the ability for groups to operate in their normal way. This was affecting young people's mental health because they weren't seeing their peers and connecting with others like usual. So we came up with Positive Stories for Negative Times which initially was focused on supporting group leaders to transfer their sessions online and then we programmed a brilliant range of plays that groups could use for free to make their own performances. Since then we've been constantly astounded by the reach of the project and young people's limitless creativity.

Positive Stories is now on Season 3. How is this season different? Did you expect Positive Stories to be as successful as it has been?

Every Season we've tried to progress the project in some way and this year is no different. We're starting four new youth theatre festivals across Scotland where groups can come and perform their play from this year's programme and see others' work. We're working with the brilliant Perth Theatre, Ayr Gaiety, Eden Court in Inverness and the Traverse Theatre who we have co-commissioned the plays with since the first season. We're so excited to meet some of the participating groups in real life - 24 groups in total - and see the brilliant work in the flesh. More than anything we are looking forward to seeing groups meeting each other in real life. That will be special.

We never expected Positive Stories to be as successful as it's gone on to be. We literally dreamt the project up on our sofas and now 8000 young people across the world have taken part and continue to do so! Loads of countries are also participating making this a real international project rooted in Scotland - we've had 16 different countries including South Africa, India, USA, Canada, Italy and Sweden. It's a real pinch me moment.

You're working with, and have worked with, so many brilliant theatre makers on Positive Stories (including Bryony Kimmings and Tim Crouch this season). If you could get anyone else to write for Positive Stories, who would it be?

One of the best parts of this project has been working with some of our heroes including Bryony and Tim. We want to continue to work with artists who work in different forms, for example we are working with poet and screenwriter Leyla Josephine on this year's project. We've actually already started to scope out potential artists for a fourth season and there's some amazing names interested...our lips are sealed.

You've written two plays together for Positive Stories (Ozymandias in Season 1, Spyrates 2 (Spies vs Pirates): Journey to the Forbidden Island). How did you approach writing for a young audience? How different was it compared to your usual writing process?

For both plays we worked with our amazing youth board who are a group of 20 young theatre-makers from across Scotland whose role on the project is to work with all the programmed artists from the inception of their writing process to inform the making of the work with their own ideas, thoughts and lived experiences. This helps us ensure there's a real authenticity and relatability for young people and that they have a voice in the heart of the creative process. So working with the youth board massively informed Spyrates and Ozymandias and meant we weren't working in a vaccum trying to remember how we felt when we were young people, which we sadly aren't anymore! Then we treated it like any other play we've written - looking for interesting, dynamic characters and trying to create an entertaining and thought provoking story. Spyrates is one of our favourite things we've ever written because it just allowed us to dream big which hopefully all the artists feel like they can do when they're commissioned on the project.

Why should teachers sign their classrooms up for Positive Stories for Negative Times?

The plays are written by some of the most exciting and interesting artists working in the UK today - this year we have Tim Crouch, Leyla Josephine, Robert Softley Gale, Sara Shaarawi, The PappyShow and Bryony Kimmings. There's a real flexibility for groups - there's a range of different styles and themes to explore and also the process itself is super adaptable depending on what the group needs and how it usually operates. For example, you could rehearse a play over three months and perform it at the end or you could explore one of the devising guides over the course of a week taking photos as you go in order to document the process. The options are endless and we encourage group leaders to be fluid in their approach. The main thing for us is as many people as possible take part. And, crucially, it's free!

What do you think of the current creative opportunities for young people in Scotland?

There's some amazing work happening everywhere you look. Unfortunately the sector is hampered by external forces and that is something this project is trying to remedy. One of the delights of Positive Stories has been helps us ensure there's a real authenticity and relatability for young people and that they have a voice in the heart of the creative process. So working with the youth board massively informed Spyrates and Ozymandias and meant we weren't working in a vaccum trying to remember how we felt when we were young people, which we sadly aren't anymore! Then we treated it like any other play we've written - looking for interesting, dynamic characters and trying to create an entertaining and thought provoking story. Spyrates is one of our favourite things we've ever written because it just allowed us to dream big which hopefully all the artists feel like they can do when they're commissioned on the project.

You both attended the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Is that where you met? Can you tell us a little about your experience there?

We met when we studied on the Contemporary Performance Practice course. It was during our time there that we co-founded Wonder Fools. The RCS was a hub of creativity - not just theatre but across music, film, dance and more. We met some long lasting friends there and also collaborators who we still work with to this day and are an important part of the work we make. It was a place that allowed us to take risks - like start a company - and we are really grateful for our time there.

What creative experiences shaped you in your youth and put you on your current creative path?

We're both from rural areas (Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway, and Prestonpans in East Lothian) so our formative years were in places with not a lot of culture happening. We both participated in our local youth theatres which gave us a space to gain confidence and experience in drama for the first time. Organisations like the Scottish Community Drama Association and its one act play festivals were pivotal - that's where Jack directed his first play. It was a production of Douglas Maxwell's Too Fast and things came full circle when Douglas wrote a play as part of the second season of PSFNT. We were also lucky enough to go on drama trips seeing seminal Scottish theatre shows such as Black Watch which opened our eyes to the possibility of what theatre was and who it was for.

Whose art/projects/theatre are you excited about at the moment?

We're both based in Glasgow and in general we are buzzing that we're fully open again as a sector and seeing venues being able to programme work again. A recent theatre highlight was Moonset by Maryam Hamidi. In terms of things coming up we are excited to see NTS' Kidnapped, Imogen Stirling's Love the Sinner and the Edinburgh International Children's Festival at the Traverse Theatre.

What else has Wonder Fools got in store for this year?

For us we are taking a relatively quiet year developing new work and concentrating on delivering four brilliant Positive Stories festivals in the summer. We've got lots cooking in the background, working with some incredibly exciting artists in different communities creating new work that will hopefully land in 2024 and beyond. Next year will be busy!

Sign-ups open until 26 May at positivestories.scot

'Positive Stories for Negative Times: Season Three is presented by Wonder Fools in association with the Traverse Theatre, Ayr Gaiety, Eden Court, Perth Theatre and Youth Theatre Arts Scotland with plays co-commissioned by Wonder Fools and Traverse Theatre'.

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