The Light Burns Blue

During the First World War, seventeen-year-old Elsie Wright fools the world into believing she has photographed fairies in her garden. An ambitious young reporter seeks to expose Elsie as a fraud. But as she looks at the facts, she begins to think there's more to Elsie's story than a simple hoax.

Inspired by the true story of the Cottingley Fairies, The Light Burns Blue by Silva Semerciyan is part of Platform, an initiative from Tonic Theatre in partnership with Nick Hern Books aimed at addressing gender imbalance and inequality in theatre. Platform comprises big-cast plays with predominantly or all-female casts, written specifically for performance by school, college and youth-theatre groups.

‘Drama is an important tool for building confidence and empowering young people. Platform will give girls opportunity to access these benefits as much as their male counterparts.’ Moira Buffini

Buying from an educational institution or youth group? You can get the scripts for Platform plays at a special discount price – head to the Platform website for more information.

Blog Post: Tonic Theatre's Lucy Kerbel explains why she launched Platform, and what you can do to get involved. 'When looking at contemporary new writing for young actors to perform, one could be mistaken for thinking that youth drama was a predominantly male pursuit, rather than the other way round.' Read more >>