Wonder Fools’ Positive Stories For Negative Times

Wonder Fools are delighted to announce that sign-ups are now officially open for Positive Stories for Negative Times Season 5. Positive Stories for Negative Times is Wonder Fools’ free international theatre project for young people aged 6 to 25.

Each season, groups receive access to brand-new plays and play blueprints, practical resources, and support to help bring creative work to life in schools, community spaces, and theatres.

This year’s commissioned writers and theatre-makers are:

• Maryam Hamidi – Archaeology – One classroom, one day, and a future excavation of memory, truth and the tiny fragments we leave behind.
• Greg McHugh – Robbie-O and Jasmine – A young man follows the crowd to a protest outside a hotel accommodating people seeking asylum, and finds his life changed in ways he could never have expected.
• Johnny McKnight – Knock Twice – A supernatural comedic thriller about strange noises, flickering lights, shadows in the windows, and those left behind.
• Xhloe & Natasha – Pirate Play – A fast-paced, absurdist pirate adventure about a professional stowaway, a voiceless traveller, and the unlikely friendship that helps them find where they belong.
• Ned Glasier – The Butterfly Tap – A joyful, participatory exploration of teenage happiness: what it is, how we make more of it, and what it means to really notice it.
• Alex Medland (Young Writer) – Staff Meals Not Allocated – A group of teenagers, the multi-billion-pound burger chain they work for, and how they take their power back.

There are two ways to take part this year.

Showcase Weekends are for groups in Scotland who would like to work with Wonder Fools across the year towards a performance in a professional theatre. Groups will rehearse and develop their chosen piece in their own setting, before sharing their work live as part of a wider weekend of performances, workshops and shared activity alongside other groups from across Scotland. Venues will be confirmed in Summer 2026, and there are limited places for this opportunity.

Perform in Your Community is for groups looking for a more flexible way to take part. Groups receive the plays, resources and support, and can participate in a way that suits their own schedule, setting and young people. This option is open to groups anywhere in the world.

Key dates:

Applications for Showcase Weekends close on Friday 18th September. We will notify All groups will be notified about their involvement in the Showcase Weekends by Friday 25th September if not before.

The plays will be available from Wednesday 14th October. Groups taking part through Perform in Your Community can sign up at any time until 31st October 2027.

Find out more and sign up here.

Whether you are working in a school, youth theatre, arts organisation or community setting, Wonder Fools would love you to be part of Season 5.

Any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.