Hannah Lowther: ‘I feel like I have a lot to prove’

Hannah Lowther wants to know how the flying monkeys work on stage in Wicked, and how the lion cub moves. It’s this declaration that perhaps best sums up how curious the performer is, and how inquisitive her nature is.

Perhaps, it’s this drive that has led to her internet fame, where her humble virality began with short videos of her dancing down the aisles in Tesco. While amassing followers (1M+, but who’s counting?), she’s performed on stages in the West End and beyond, and launched a podcast (titled How Very Hannah after a famous line in Heathers).

Even with these accomplishments under her belt, Lowther confesses: “I feel like I have a lot to prove… whether I do or not.”

Currently on tour with her podcast, awaiting the release of her debut book, and crucially – waiting for the thumbs up to post about her next acting job – to me, it feels like she’s proven herself time and time again. Still, it’s a comment she offers unprompted, a niggle seemingly in the back of her mind.

“I never want to disappoint anyone…” the performer confides. We’re discussing her social media platforms and the podcast, which offer an exclusive backstage pass to her previous jobs, including roles in Heathers, SpongeBob SquarePants Musical, Six, and more.

She’s documented everything online – from failed auditions to an average working day, even divulging how much actors are paid, right up to her recent engagement – sharing every part of herself unfiltered, and with jazz hands.

“It can be scary sharing the rawest kind of moments, the rejections and things, because it’s very real.”

Having performed on stage since she was ten years old, in shows like The Sound of Music, Oliver!, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Lowther recalls putting two and two together and realising that the adults in the theatre went to work in the same way that her mum went to the office. “It was such a benefit to learn in the industry from an early age,” she says, explaining that she trained at Italia Conti and the London School of Musical Theatre, even completing teacher qualifications, but admits, “there’s only so much you can teach.”

It’s this ethos that shapes the content she creates. TikTok was initially created as an educational tool, and while there are videos that wouldn’t have been out of place on You’ve Been Framed, many content creators are trying to hone and share their skills – be it by creating makeup tutorials, choreography, meal prep ideas, and, in Lowther’s case, an exclusive look behind the curtain.

“It’s so special and touching that I get comments and messages from people saying that they didn’t know about musical theatre until they saw my content. There are some people in some parts of the world, and some parts of the country, who aren’t exposed to it.”

“It’s still a gate-kept industry. It’s expensive to do theatre and to see theatre, and many people don’t have access.”

She hopes that performers who also make content, of which there are many (note: Amber Davies, Maddie Grace Jepson), and the shows themselves, alongside initiatives like pro shots, can help bring theatre to the masses.

During her time on Six, where she was an alternate and played half of the Queens during her contract, Lowther shared a series on TikTok called “Behind the Queens”.

“It’s important to me to share behind-the-scenes stuff when I’m in shows. You go and see a show and see the glitz and the glam, and you sit up straight and have your ice cream… As performers, we get the applause and the audience sees us, but they don’t see the hardworking people in all the different departments behind that. That’s what I want to focus on more.”

Again, this idea prompted her debut book, Les Quizérables. Filled with trivia and questions, the book covers everything from the golden age of musicals to the more modern ones in which Lowther has made her name.

“Obviously, I’m still learning all the time and I’m not perfect, but sharing this world is something I feel passionately about, so doing the quiz book was obvious.”

She added, “In general, we as performers love what we do, but our jobs are so often looked at as fun and easy, so I think it helps to create content that shows what really goes into it. Not to prove ourselves, or in particular, prove myself. But because theatre starts as a hobby, a lot of people, even the government, think it’s just that. But it’s a real industry.”

And in the same breath, so is content creation. Anybody who has tried to make a TikTok video will understand how difficult and time-consuming it is: which camera lens do you use? How do you angle it to look most flattering? How can you walk and talk unscripted? Not to mention creatively coming up with the idea, then editing and posting. Luckily, Lowther has always been interested in video journalism: “I was part of the Kid Witness news team at school, and we’d film little news snippets,” she smiles, “I can hold my own with an edit!”

“I feel like the luckiest person ever because I love creating content and I love theatre, and that’s both of my jobs.”

I ask Lowther whether asking an actor what their next job is is a little like asking your prison cellmate what they’re in for – not the done thing. She laughs, not denying it, but admits that when her followers do so, it does pile on that initial pressure she mentioned.

“A lot of the time, it comes from a place where people want to be supportive and to see me win and get the chance to come and see me in their favourite shows. So often it comes from kindness, but it can feel like a lot of pressure.”

Lowther has become “pretty good” at posting a video and putting her phone down. She does, however, field her comment sections: “I like to be aware of what people are saying and I’m hot on shutting down anything negative about anyone in my comments.”

Performing, living, and working with other performers in such close quarters, Lowther is proud of the friends she has made and the community she’s a part of, and is extremely protective.

“There are lots of opinions on the internet, and people are entitled to their own opinions. But are you entitled to comment that on my own video for me and everyone to see? No.”

Instead, she hopes her followers – those who are so invested in theatre and her involvement in particular – follow her lead. “I try to be as supportive of others as possible and hope that anybody who follows me will follow suit and think about what they’re writing before they post it. Once you write something, it is a reflection of you. We need to lead with kindness.”

The excitement of announcing her next role is clouded a little with apprehension. “It’s nerve-wracking waiting to see people’s reactions.”

Most of Lowther’s followers will be able to recount her first show as Katherine Howard, just days after her debut as Catherine Parr. During the “MegaSix” (the one part of the show that audiences are allowed to record), the actress incorrectly took the position of Parr. She remembers: “It was posted online straightaway. Of course it was, it’s Hannah Lowther going wrong. It’ll get views. And honestly fair – it did,” she says, with a small but deflated smile.

“I pride myself on being able to do my job, but once you put yourself on social media, then all eyes are on you.”

All eyes have been on Lowther for the last five years, and in the best possible way – may they continue to be as her career progresses.