Spotlight On... Supported Artist: Hannah Scorer

"Great story, Hannah, but we’ve got to think about how it’s going to work on stage. It’s only a short play but you’ve got maybe more than a dozen different locations. How are we going to reduce that number, or design the stage so that it can represent various different places?" Hannah Scorer is talking about the practical help she received from Hull Truck in developing the staging of her play Can We Be Friends? 

"They help you to think differently," she continues, "things like how do I convincingly get characters on and off stage without it looking artificially contrived? I’m so fortunate to benefit from all their experience."

Hannah writes for a living, working in communications and press liaison, but came late to creative writing. She started some seven or eight years ago, joining a writing group at Middle Child Theatre who are committed to providing accessible routes into theatre for local people.

Hannah’s idea was to write about single parenting and particularly single mothers who live together and take care of each other and the children. She talks with passion about the ‘village’ we need when bringing up children and how hard that can be to access for single mothers.

Last year she took an earlier version of the play to Middle Child’s Fresh Ink Festival which not only showcases early versions of new plays, but provides support, advice and encouragement for new writers.*

At first it was a daunting process - not least writing to a deadline! – but she met and worked with Mark Babych during rehearsals and was thrilled when Mark offered a full commission for the play which would then feature at the Grow Festival 2025.

Hannah knows how fortunate Hull is in having theatre makers who want to invest time and energy in new writers. "There are chances to start from nothing," she says, "but it’s only because of local development opportunities at Middle Child and Hull Truck Theatre that I’m writing creatively at all.

"Theatre can feel like a very closed door. There wouldn’t be another route in but in Hull these people make sure there is a way. They couldn’t have done more for me and it’s been a privilege to have their support."

Next for Can We Be Friends is the chance to get reaction from live audiences. Hull Truck have laid on a special show for parents whose feedback, Hannah feels, will be invaluable and lead to further refinement and editing. "Developing something at this level," she concludes, "is brand new to me and very exciting, overwhelming even and unbelievable."

See Can We Be Friends?: Rehearsed Reading as part of Grow Festival 2025 on Fri 04 July. Book tickets by calling the Box Office on 01482 323638 or online here: Can We Be Friends?: Rehearsed Reading | HullTruckTheatre

*See https://www.freshinkhull.co.uk/ for details of this year’s Fresh Ink Festival which takes place on the weekend of Sat 19 - Sun 20 Jul, 2025.