Tag: Wellcome Trust

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Teenagers to Storm the National Theatre in Brain Science Frenzy

An energetic new piece of theatre structured around some excellent science communication will be part of the National Theatre’s new 2015 summer season.

Islington Community Theatre’s Brainstorm, which was first performed at London’s Park Theatre earlier this month, will be re-staged on 21st-25th July 2015 in the National Theatre’s temporary theatre on the South Bank.

Brainstorm was developed with support from the Wellcome Trust
Brainstorm was developed with support from the Wellcome Trust

A cast of ten teenagers from Islington schools devised Brainstorm under the direction of Ned Glasier and Emily Lim, based on ideas in a TED talk by neuroscientist Prof Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. The result is a funny, chaotic and moving account of teenage life, infused throughout with the latest science of the adolescent brain.

The energy of Brainstorm more than filled the modest space of the sold-out Park Theatre in January, so it is excellent news that the production will reach wider audiences as part of the NT summer programme.

Public booking for Brainstorm opens on 12th February. Advance booking for National Theatre supporters is already open.

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Discover More Science in Theatre…

Oppenhiemer RSC
Oppenheimer at the Royal Shakespeare Company

Welcome to new visitors who have arrived via the RSC Chemistry World blog. If you are interested in finding out more about The Effect by Lucy Prebble, there will be a new production in Sheffield in June 2015. Oppenheimer by Tom Morton-Smith opens in the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon on 15th January 2015. The RSC has a Q&A with the writer Tom Morton-Smith here.

For a scholarly account of science and theatre, Dr Kirsten Shepherd-Barr’s book Science on Stage is an excellentScience on Stage place to start. Carl Djerassi’s plays (including Insufficiency) and Shelagh Stephenson’s An Experiment With An Air Pump may also be of interest. Chemist Rowena Fletcher-Wood has recently produced a play about Ludwig Boltzmann called Trusting Atoms.

Follow the links from each play on sci-stage.com to find details of past productions or browse for new plays and productions using the map, the calendar and Twitter.

New productions opening in January 2015 with a scientific theme include The Hard Problem at the National Theatre and Brainstorm, a devised play by Islington Community Theatre about the teenage brain, in connection with the Wellcome Trust.