Wonder Fools are looking for a young writer (18-25 years old) to commission as part of Positive Stories for Negative Times Season 5. We are looking for young people who want to write for young people. The commission will be a new short play (under 30 minutes) for young people taking part in the project and created in collaboration with Wonder Fools’ Youth Board. The selected writer will be paid a commission fee and receive developmental support from Wonder Fools.

Closing date: Midnight Sunday 29th March

Interview date: wb 6th April

Fee: £4100

THE OPPORTUNITY

Wonder Fools are looking for a young writer (18-25 years old) currently based in Scotland to commission a play as part of Positive Stories for Negative Times Season 5.

We are looking for a young person who wants to write for young people. The commission will be a new short play (under 30 minutes) for young people taking part in the project and created in collaboration with Wonder Fools’ Youth Board. The selected writer will be paid a commission fee and receive developmental support by Wonder Fools.

Plays should be written for young people up to the age of 25 and be between 20 – 30 minutes long, or approximately 3,000-5,000 words. The commissioned play might be targeted at a particular demographic, for example, 11-13-year-olds or 18-25-year-olds, or it could be an idea without an age in mind and we can help with this further down the line.

The project is open to young people from all backgrounds, some might be from youth theatres, and some might be from a school or community group and have never picked up a play before. Groups will vary in size and have a mix of age and genders, so your play should be written with flexibility in mind.

Don’t worry; the Wonder Fools team will be on hand to support you with this, and you will also have access to Wonder Fools’ Youth Board to help test things out. The Youth Board are a group of emerging artists from across Scotland who work with commissioned artists to inform the making of the plays and ensure that they are representative, accessible and engaging for young people.]

ABOUT POSITIVE STORIES

Positive Stories for Negative Times (PSfNT) is Wonder Fools’ flagship international participatory programme. Across recent years PSfNT has commissioned 22 new plays from writers such as Ella Hickson, Travis Alabanza, Douglas Maxwell, Stef Smith, Chris Thorpe among many others. All plays are available for free to youth groups and schools across the world with an incredible 23 countries previously participating. Season 4 culminated in four national festivals in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stornoway and Dumfries.

Find out more about Positive Stories for Negative Times here.

TO APPLY

Please send the following by email to: contact@wonderfools.org by midnight on Sunday 29th March

• An outline of the play you’d like to write if selected (250-500 words)
• A 3-5 page sample of your writing (from either the play you’d like to write or an existing play of yours)
• A CV or paragraph about your experience of writing so far and why you would like to write for young people (500 words max)

We will contact all applicants after submissions close and submissions have been reviewed by the team, including members of the Youth Board. Shortlisted applicants will then be invited to meet with the Wonder Fools team wb 6th April to hear more about your ideas.

If you prefer an alternative method of applying, please send an audio or video file talking about your play idea for up to 2 minutes.

If you have any questions regarding the application or eligibility, please contact us at: contact@wonderfools.org

Please also complete the equal opportunities form here.