The Paper Birds have announced a UK tour of 48 Thoughts Per Minute, a new comedy-theatre show co-written with comedian Jessica Fostekew and starring Mark Thomas alongside company co-director Kylie Perry. It opens at the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich on 27 January 2027 before visiting 11 more venues through to March.
The show is built around a claim that the average human brain generates 48 thoughts a minute. Set over three minutes as a woman waits for potentially life-changing news, it moves through four characters’ minds as her thoughts pile up. The staging turns the theatre into a human brain, with sound, visuals and set shifting at speed, and audiences can send in their own thoughts via smartphone.
It marks a return to the verbatim approach The Paper Birds are known for, combining real-life testimonies with new writing by Fostekew (Infinite Monkey Cage, Sturdy Girl Club, The Guilty Feminist) and the company’s co-directors Jemma McDonnell and Kylie Perry. The team also worked with academic experts, including Professor Charles Fernyhough, director of the Centre for Research into Inner Experience at Durham University. Thomas is best known for Ordinary Decent Criminal, England & Son and The Mark Thomas Comedy Product.
Despite the humour, the show deals with grief and infertility. McDonnell says working with stand-up comedians allowed the company to explore heavier themes “through a comedic lens”, with the aim of giving audiences a great night out and plenty to talk about afterwards. Fostekew says the research into how thinking works was “mind-bending” and that she is proud of how funny the show has turned out given the subject matter.
Formed in 2003, The Paper Birds are an Arts Council England NPO and a female-led company known for making complex social and political subjects accessible. Their work with young people has reached schools and colleges in the UK and abroad, and they are a prescribed practitioner for AQA A-Level Drama.
The show runs for two hours plus interval and is recommended for ages 14 and over. It contains strong language and themes of infertility and grief. Closed captions are available on audience members’ own mobile devices. It is co-produced by New Wolsey Theatre and co-commissioned by Corn Exchange Newbury and Warwick Arts Centre.
48 Thoughts Per Minute UK tour dates:
27 and 28 January – New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich (on general sale 6 November)
2 and 3 February – MAST Mayflower Studios, Southampton
9 and 10 February – Corn Exchange, Newbury
17 and 18 February – Jersey Arts Centre, Saint Helier (on sale soon)
23 and 24 February – Derby Theatre (on sale soon)
25 and 26 February – Sheffield Theatres
3 and 4 March – Warwick Arts Centre
9 and 10 March – Chelmsford Theatre
15 and 16 March – Lakeside Arts, Nottingham
18 and 19 March – Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield
23 and 24 March – HOME, Manchester
