48 Thoughts Per Minute

A fast-paced, hilarious & chaotic show, about all the things we think but do not say.

Some scientists believe your brain fires off around 48 thoughts per minute, that’s 70,000 a day. So what are we actually thinking about?

The Paper Birds, UK leaders in devised verbatim theatre, return with their most inventive, laugh-out-loud show yet, celebrating the ways we think.

Set over the course of three minutes, as one woman awaits some potentially life-changing news, 48 Thoughts Per Minute is a fast-paced, chaotic and warmly relatable story about our relationship with ourselves. From mirror-based self-reflection, 3am catastrophising, and memories that arrive uninvited.

Co-created with comedian Jessica Fostekew (The Guilty Feminist, Hoovering), the show blends sharp new writing with stories from real people across the UK. Built with designers, academics and neuroscientists, the staging, sound and visuals reflect one woman’s brain, hurtling along at the same swift pace, navigating us through overlapping logic, emotions, memories and internal conversations. And you’ll have the option to join in too, sharing your own thoughts via your smartphone.

Equal parts belly laughs and gentle gut-punch, it asks how we navigate the world, and the most important relationship we have, the one with ourselves.