The Raven
by Hannah Lavery
Age range: 11+
Cast size: 5 – 25
Four friends who have drifted apart since starting secondary school are visited by the mysterious Raven. The Raven leads them into a mysterious world which they soon discover they can’t escape. They will need to overcome their differences if they are to find a way home.
The piece is both an adventure and an exploration of what shapes and what divides us, exploring issues of blended families, bullying, overeating, depression and isolation.
About the Artist
Hannah is a poet, playwright, performer and director. Her poetry has been published widely and her poem, Scotland, you’re no mine, was selected by Roseanne Watt as one of the Best Scottish Poems 2019.
The Drift, her autobiographical play, toured Scotland as part of the National Theatre of Scotland’s Season 2019.
In 2020, she was awarded a New Playwrights’ Award by the Playwrights Studio Scotland and selected by Owen Sheers’ as one of his Ten Writers Asking Questions That Will Shape Our Future for the International Literature Showcase, a project from the National Writing Centre and the British Council. She was also selected as one of the Scottish Voices for the BBC Writers’ Room.
In November 2020, her highly acclaimed play Lament for Sheku Bayoh was directed by Hannah in a co-production with the Royal Lyceum Theatre, National Theatre of Scotland and Edinburgh International Festival.
Hannah is one of Imaginate’s Accelerator Artists and an Associate Artist with the National Theatre of Scotland as well as Writer in Residence at Lyceum Youth Theatre.
She was recently selected for the Adopt a Playwright Award by offwestend.com and is under commission by Pitlochry Festival Theatre to adapt Jekyll and Hyde for their upcoming Summer Season 2021.
Hannah is an experienced workshop facilitator and mentor and received the Creative Edinburgh Leadership Award in 2020, for her work with the Writers of Colour Writing Group and for curating and directing a film poetry series for Fringe of Colour.