To sit and hear Robbie Gordon reel off figures is a mind-boggling thing. He is talking about Positive Stories For Negative Times, a project you might never have heard of even if you are familiar with Wonder Fools, the Glasgow theatre company he runs with Jack Nurse. The pair have been acclaimed for productions such as 549: Scots Of The Spanish Civil War, a revival of David Greig’s The Events, and Tether, a Fringe First-winning collaboration with South Korea’s Theatre San. But you have to look to Positive Stories For Negative Times to see the big numbers.
Since launching in 2020, the scheme has engaged 11,583 young people from 817 groups in 23 countries; and that is only the participants they know about. It was a hit from the very first year, an online response to the pandemic. ‘We thought we’d say to the funders that we would reach 750, and if we managed to hit that figure we’d be laughing,’ says Gordon. ‘But the numbers kept ticking up. Two or three thousand young people did the project online in 15 countries.’ [READ MORE]