Brainstorm

A STAGE PLAY

JUNE 2019

Background

‘Brainstorm’ was a riotous, tender and funny document of life in 2019 for an authentic bunch of Wrexham teens, who provided an honest assessment of the high and lows of adolescence. With multimedia film, live social media messaging, onstage DJing, audience participation, innovative stagecraft and a brilliant soundtrack, both productions, performed at Ty Pawb, were a memorable experience.

‘Brainstorm’ was District 14 Youth Theatre’s third major production and followed on from the successful production of ‘Alice in Wonderland’, which was seen by 250 people across two sold out dates at Ty Pawb back in September 2018.

This time around, the cast’s feet were firmly grounded in reality with a self-devised, verbatim drama that combined action and dialogue from the real experiences of the young, talented cast with fascinating brain science from Professor Sarah-Jane Blakemore of University College London.

We learnt, thanks to advances in MRI scanning technology, that the teenage brain is far from inferior. It’s merely different. And, for the most part, it really isn’t their fault! Blame the wild ‘sprouting’ within the brain which see millions of new connections firing, helping teens make more sense of the world but not before it’s completely and utterly overwhelmed them! Blame the underdeveloped Pre-Frontal Cortex that, in adolescence, regularly fails to stop irrational behaviour! Blame the hypersensitive Limbic System which encourages teens to take bewildering risks all in the name of seeking reward and approval!

Combine this with major hormonal changes, an avalanche of social, cultural and environmental pressures and a lack of focus on emotional literacy, we saw that not everything our teens throw at us is the result of wanton ‘petulance’, ‘laziness’ or ‘craziness.’

And we discovered it’s not just teens who can struggle with adolescence, but parents also. As well as all the worry and niggling doubts about our own parenting skills, parents also contend with a teenage brain that is designed to make teens actively create distance between them and their parents, in preparation for the time when they will go it alone. This natural, but no less hurtful sense of separation, can leave parents disorientated by their changing role, too often blaming themselves for doing something wrong. Parents of the cast contributed to the script, creating poignant moments of discreet interaction with their children on stage.

‘Brainstorm’ reminded us of those loved ones we can lose sight of and helped us to understand how instrumental the brain is in defining our relationships with our children.

Ultimately, the fundamental message of our story was that ‘everything will be okay.’ Our unique and wonderful teens just don’t know it yet!

‘Brainstorm’ was first performed at the National Theatre, London by Company Three in 2015 with the original concept conceived by Ned Glasier, Emily Lim and Company Three.

Highlights

Audience Reviews

"What a fantastic turn-out and show tonight! The young people did so well and shared what is personal and that is truly meaningful. My girls, their friends and I loved the show! Make the time to see it everyone!"

"What an amazing production - it was a fantastic evening."

"It was a fantastic, thought provoking and thoroughly entertaining night. Well done to all of the cast."

"It was brilliant!"

"Absolutely fabulous show. All were fantastic. Most enjoyable."

"Was fabulous. Well done, everyone. Wonderfully insightful, made me laugh and made me cry. See you again tomorrow."

"Really enjoyed this show. Well done to all the kids that took part. You were all amazing."

"Amazing show from a very talented cast."

"Wonderful performance! They all did so well. So insightful. Well done everyone."

"The cast absolutely shone last night in their performance of Brainstorm at Tŷ Pawb. Fantastic direction from Andy of The Learning Collective. Such an insight into the teenage brain."

"I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed the play last night, it was brilliantly done !! It was very thought provoking and I could relate to many parts as a parent of pre teens and a teenager. The cast were fantastic, making me laugh one minute to wanting to cry the next!!!! Well done to all!"

"Had a wonderful time at Ty Pawb this evening to see the performance of Wrexham teenagers. How wonderful!! Well done everyone!!"

"So proud of everybody involved in this. So many talented young people succeeding in making the audience laugh, think and be moved. You are all amazing!!! Big thank you to Andy for bringing these guys all together and making this happen!"

"The teenagers' performances were amazing. Shows just how much they all love and benefit coming to your class, Andy. Thank you so much for doing this for children."

"My friend and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was a mixture of ‘laugh out loud’ and also a very moving account of what it means to be a teenager nowadays. We especially enjoyed meeting the cast afterwards to chat to them."

"Another fantastic performance from a talented group of young people. Andy, you are an amazing inspiration to our kids, with unwavering understanding and patience."