WE'RE STUCK! Teaches Maths to Children Using Cutting Edge Neuroscience

A brand new interactive theatre show for 8-11 year olds, We're Stuck! takes children on a fun adventure with scientists and robots which could change their whole attitude to maths. Inspired by the extraordinary abilities and limitations of our brains, award-winning theatre-maker Sarah Punshon uses the latest educational neuroscience to tackle how utterly rubbish our brains can be. Ever got terribly stuck on a problem? Ever made a stupid mistake and felt like a fool? Then this show is for you.

Young adventurers will go on a special tour deep into the heart of Volcano Industries where they meet cutting edge scientists struggling with some unusual and extremely tricky problems in their top-secret research laboratory. In a promenade performance, the ridiculous heroes and the brave young audience go on a voyage of discovery, pitching themselves against ludicrously difficult tasks, getting horribly stuck, and risking total failure. It'll be fun.

WARNING: May contain robots.

The show was developed through test workshops over the last year with the help of Maths on Toast, a charity that was founded to tackle the lack of opportunities for families to have fun doing maths in their local communities. Five senior neuroscientists and psychologists from the Centre for Educational Neuroscience, University of London; the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford; and the School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh helped in developing the show. The show is funded by the Wellcome Trust and Arts Council England. The project was commissioned by Shoreditch Town Hall and Z-arts in Manchester.

Sarah Punshon said, "I was inspired to make the show after helping my nephew with his maths homework. It was scary to see how much he minded getting a wrong answer, how tempted he was to give up if it got hard. It reminded me of myself at that age! But talking to the scientists has been extraordinary. I've discovered how wrong we are about how we learn maths - and been astonished by the breakthroughs scientists are making in understanding exactly how our brains work. I'm excited to work with such a brilliant team. Because it's such an interactive show, I've been collaborating very closely with Sophie Sampson, our games designer, and Joanna Scotcher, our designer. We've been inventing strange brain-computer hybrid robots, and ways for kids to learn how to control them. My sister's terrified of helping her kids with maths: I'm hoping someone like her will bring their kids along, and maybe the show will help change the way she looks at maths homework in future."

Running Time: 70 minutes | Suitable for ages 8-11

Written and directed by Sarah Punshon

Design Joanna Scotcher Games design Sophie Sampson

Lighting design Joshua Pharo Sound design Elena Peña

Cast:

Daniel Bye, Seiriol Davies, Clare Dunn, and Avita Jay

Listings information

Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old St, London EC1V 9LT

25 March - 1 April

£11 - 8 | www.shoreditchtownhall.com

Group discounts apply

Fri 25th March and Sat 26th March 10.30am, 1pm, 3.30pm

Tues 29th March and Weds 30th March 11am

Thu 31st March and Fri 1 April 11.30am, 2.30pm

Photo credit: Shoreditch Town Hall Website

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