Co-Produced with New Wolsey Theatre. Supported by Warwick Arts Centre
A fast-paced, hilarious & joyfully chaotic show, about all the things we think but do not say
48 Thoughts Per Minute is our latest devised verbatim production, currently in creation. It’s an inventive, laugh-out-loud celebration of the many ways we think and experience the world inside our heads.
Fast-paced, funny, and hugely relatable, 48 Thoughts Per Minute is developed in collaboration with current UK comedians. The show blends new writing by our Co-Directors Jemma and Kylie, with verbatim testimonies from a diverse range of people living across the UK; from exercise clubs, to mother and baby groups, elders’ dance groups, and mindfulness groups, to name a few.
The average human brain generates 48 thoughts per minute, translating to approximately 70,000 thoughts per day.* Through this show we invite our audience to reflect on the private space inside each of their heads, capturing the hilarious, vivid and sometimes intrusive thoughts that shape our inner worlds.
Audiences interact live during the performance using their smartphones: texting in thoughts and reactions in real time, becoming part of a unique collective ‘brain’ each performance.
From mirror-based self-reflection, to 3am catastrophising, 48 Thoughts Per Minute is a high-speed journey through one woman’s unstoppable cascade of thoughts. Staging, sound, and visuals shift as rapidly as her mind, leaping through memories, imagination and internal conversations at breakneck speed.
The theatre is transformed into a human brain, using set design and cinematic film to reflect its inner workings. Collaborating with a team of leading designers, academics and neuroscientists, the show explores our human experience: how we navigate the world around us, move between logic and emotion, process memories, and respond to all that life throws at us.
*From The American Journal of Medicine.
Premiere: New Wolsey Theatre - October 2026
Touring: Autumn 2026 & Spring 2027
Co-Produced by: New Wolsey Theatre
Supported by: Warwick Arts Centre
Funded by: Arts Council England
To book please get in touch with our Executive Producer Charlotte Kalantari-Gregory: charlotte@thepaperbirds.com
DOWNLOAD THE UK TOURING PROMOTER PACK HERE
A fast-paced, hilarious & joyfully chaotic show by The Paper Birds. Touring Autumn 2026 & Spring 2027.
We hope our new ‘Conversation Starter’ film will get you thinking and talking about what it’s like inside your head. This is such a fascinating area of research and one we rarely share with others. We would love to hear from you about your internal experience.
We’d be super grateful if you could spend 10 mins filling out our questionnaire. We might even use some of your answers and stories anonymously in the show! Please feel free to skip questions and only share what you are comfortable with. You can access the questions via the QR code at the end of the film, or directly here.
Alternatively, if you don’t get on with typing, then please feel free to read the questions and then send a voice recording of some of your thoughts, experiences and responses to Jemma@thepaperbirds.com. We are very excited to hear from you however you choose to respond.
Thank you so much for contributing to the research and development of the show.
Big Love – The Birds x
📸 Lead image | HJ Photography
Company Number: 05363584
Charity Number: 1182736
VAT Number: 223374134