Lewis Hetherington – författare

Six exciting new plays by some of the best artists working in the UK today written with and for young people. Created as part of Wonder Fools' international participatory project Positive Stories for Negative Times which has reached over 8000 young people from 16 different countries including UK, South Africa, India, USA, Canada, Italy and Sweden. Co-commissioned by Wonder Fools and the Traverse Theatre these six plays offer a variety of stories, styles and forms for ages 10 to 25. These original and innovative plays are: The Day the Stampers United by Sara ShaarawiAges 12+Ms Campbell's Class Fifth Period by Leyla JosephineAges 14+And The Name for That Is?... by Robert Softley GaleAges 16+Are You A Robot? by Tim CrouchAges 10+Revolting by Bryony KimmingsAges 13+Thanks for Nothing by The PappyShow with Lewis HetheringtonAges 11+Positive Stories For Negative Times was initially created in response to the lack of physical spaces for young people to participate in creative activities due to the pandemic, and instead allowing them to come together and be inspired through making new work. The project has now grown into a programme of work that includes hundreds of participating groups across the world, a youth board who dramaturg all the commissioned plays from inception to final draft, a continuing professional development programme for group leaders and four regional Scottish youth theatre festivals taking place in summer 2023.Supported by Creative Scotland, the Gannochy Trust, Hugh Fraser Foundation, William Syson Foundation, Trades House of Glasgow Commonweal Fund and Gordon Fraser Foundation. www.positivestories.scot

Old Earth has nothing left for us, and so it is time for a new beginning. Cross galaxies, traverse light years and find yourself in a world where you can be the centre of your own universe. Welcome to New Earth. Never look back. Vela, the revered and celebrated architect of this new society, has recently been avoiding her public duties in favour of visiting the Old Earth Museum and the company of its Security Guard. As the final migrants arrive, she is becoming increasingly obsessed by her memories, and questions are growing about her sanity.Leaving Planet Earth is a site-responsive promenade production on an epic scale. Tracing the story of humanity’s first migration into space, it asks fundamental questions about our connection to this planet. Should we leave this world, and if so, who will endure and at what cost?

A man wakes, face down, sprawled across his single bed, the sunlight gently creeping through the window. Today is the day he will change his life. A Boeing 777 begins its descent towards Heathrow. The wheels unfold out of the belly of the plane. The frozen body of a stowaway is tipped out and cuts through the clear morning skyIn the car park of B&Q, Andy looks up. Something is falling out of the sky. A man crash-lands on the ground in front of him.Stowaway is the story of a man from India who moves to the UAE for the promise of work and prosperity. When he finds himself trapped within a Dubai labour camp, with his passport and wages withheld from him, he hides in the wheel well of a plane bound for the UK, in a bid for a better life. It’s a story about invisible and physical borders and the people who transcend them.But what are the rules of telling someone else’s story when they come from a world so very different from our own; where telling their story could act to perpetuate an unresolved history of imperialism?With the skeleton of a plane cutting across the stage, Stowaway flies back and forth through time and place, looking at storytelling as a political act.

By mixing text, 3D animation and a dynamic physicality, this play is a powerful look at the ripple effects of one man’s decision.

Alan loves his work. He doesn't love his wife, his mother or his only child, so he aims to break free and live for himself. Alan’s going to sort this mess out – this huge, horrific mess that is his life. He’s got a plan. He’s going to stop playing the husband, the father, the son and find himself. He’s going to sort it out once and for all.Bodies Unfinished opened at The Brockley Jack Theatre on 12th July 2011.