The Unseen Boy

The Unseen Boy is a lightweight touring lyric play for young audiences ages 7 to 12, written by award winning poet, playwright and Edinburgh Makar, Hannah Lavery. The Unseen Boy explores the challenges of this uncertain world for young people; their rights, struggles and hopes for the future. Full of the most sumptuous poetry by one of Scotland’s leading writers it extends a hand of friendship to anyone who has ever felt out of place in this world. 

Joe is a clever young boy, who has a lot in life but feels lonely in a world of his own imagination. Until one day he meets another boy living displaced in a tent in the woods. Who is this mysterious boy? Why is he so familiar? And why can’t anyone else see of hear him? Joe finds himself drawn into an uncertain world where the comforts of home and school feel far away and, where friendship and understanding are the key to putting the world to rights. 

Children and adults alike will be enthralled by this powerful zeitgeist play, its enchanting verse and sympathetic characters. 

The Unseen Boy was initially supported by The People’s Postcode Trust and Charcoal Blue.

It was part of the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival panel talk ‘Dark themes for young audiences’.

A future development is being supported by Theatre in Schools Scotland, Imaginate and the National Theatre of Scotland.

An earlier R&D production is available to watch on vimeo.