Positive Stories For Negative Times 2: The PappyShow with Lewis Hetherington

Positive Stories for Negative Times is an international participatory project by Wonder Fools in association with the Traverse Theatre.. Season 2 included 7 exciting new plays written especially for young people aged 6–25 with varying and flexible cast sizes. The writers worked with the newly established Positive Stories Youth Board to ensure that the plays are not only made for young people, but with them too. Here’s an introduction to the amazing company PappyShow and their equally wonderful collaborator Lewis Hetherington’s Thanks for Nothing. This is not a play, but a process. It explores what it means to be thankful in this world we live in today. It’s a mix of games, challenges and exercises for you to tell your own stories, in your own way.

The plays are written specifically for the times we are living in and were free to participating groups from September 2021 — July 2022.

About The PappyShow

The PappyShow is a playful and physical ensemble theatre company who create distinctive and critically acclaimed productions, lead inclusive workshops rooted in kindness, and work tirelessly to develop the industry we move in through connection and uplifting. The PappyShow was formed in 2013 by Kane Husbands to bring people together to move, dance, create moments of radical joy, share stories and take time just to PLAY! They exist as a social enterprise – working across performance and platforming the marginalised identities that we believe society could do better with. Their physical training is central to the company and the company offer this for everybody and every body, no matter your previous experience. By moving, playing, talking and listening, they create rooms (physical or digital) that are full of heart and where you can just be you. Diverse and collaborative, their productions explore identities that are rooted in the lived experience of their performers and span from the stage to the screen.

Productions BOYS and GIRLS were critically acclaimed for their vibrant, revelatory and expectation-defying explorations of contemporary masculinity and femininity. Our upcoming shows What Do You See and Black Girl Magic will delve even deeper into exploring and elevating the underrepresented identities that we want to see on stage.

www.thepappyshow.co.uk

About Lewis Hetherington

Lewis Hetherington is an award winning playwright, director and performance maker. His work is rooted in collaboration and storytelling. He is passionate about the arts creating space for social change. He has won two Fringe First Awards, the Arches Brick Award, and an Adelaide Fringe Award. He is one of the co directors of fieldwork performance. His work has toured extensively throughout Scotland and the rest of the world including performances in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the USA.

About Thanks for Nothing

Thanks for Nothing is not a play, but a process! It explores what it means to be thankful in this world we live in today. It’s a mix of games, challenges and exercises to give you a chance to tell your stories, in your way.

The PappyShow is all about play, curiosity, kindness and collaboration. We like to ask big questions in a way that makes you think, but also, in the way you want to! We have given lots of steers and ideas – but it’s up to you as a group to decide on what the stories you want to tell are, and how you are going to share them with an audience.

We have written out a guide book for full process! From beginning to end, from building the group, to making up the content, to putting it together into a show. You can read through the process in detail to get a sense of how long that will take – it will depend a little on size, experience and make up of the group.

We know that not everyone has the chance to put on a show, so you can also just dive into our process and pick out the bits that might be interesting for you. Each part of the process explains why we suggest you do it, and what the result might be. So you can choose what looks most appealing for your group!