Hannah Maxwell

“I worked with Annie in the development of my second autobiographical storytelling show, Nan, Me & Barbara Pravi. I can honestly say the show wouldn’t exist without her support. She was instrumental in transforming my rather windswept ideas into a narrative arc, with more totally ingenious suggestions for connecting things together than I care to remember. Some of the most enjoyable parts of our 18 month creative process took place sat in her back garden, where she was endlessly reassuring, clear-sighted and passionate about what I was trying to do. At my lowest ebb, she kept faith in the show when I’d lost all of it, and never stopped going above and beyond her contracted hours to check in and support and suggest, which she really shouldn’t but just does. I’d work with her again in half a heartbeat, and really, really hope I get to.” HM

Nan, me and Barbara Pravi

I worked with Hannah Maxwell from March 2022 - Jul 2023, shaping and structuring her show Nan, Me and Barbara Pravi.

Maxwell’s autobiographical epic on care, crisis and Eurovision returns from its critically-acclaimed run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

★★★★★ "A masterclass in storytelling." (Time Out)

In 2021, Hannah Maxwell moved back to the Home Counties to care for her terminally ill grandfather. But this show isn’t about that. It’s about France’s Eurovision star Barbara Pravi, who’s just lovely.

In between cooking, cleaning and Countdown, Maxwell escapes into an intensifying fantasy of ballroom dances, heartfelt ballads, Parisian cafés, fluent French and definitely-not-creepy plots to engineer a meetcute with a random foreign celebrity. It’s La La Land meets Mission Impossible meets Hannah’s nan.

Combining spoken-word, animation and chanson francaise, NAN, ME & BARBARA PRAVI sits you down at the kitchen table to talk through grief and care, addiction and recovery, and hope and coping in unprecedented times. A “Delightful and clever” (★★★★ Scotsman) work of storytelling theatre from the acclaimed creator of I, AMDRAM.

★★★★★ “Watch it and its appeal is obvious.” (Financial Times)

Winner of the 2023 Summerhall Lustrum Award

Nominated for the BBC/Popcorn Group Award for New Writing

★★★★★ “An outstanding production, beautiful, funny and sad.” (Scottish Field)

★★★★★ “You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll be glad you are alive.” DarkChat

★★★★★ “Douze points across the board.” (Theatre Weekly)

★★★★ “Maxwell’s writing is electric, witty and charmingly delivered.” (The List)