Would you rather? Students from Nottingham Girls Acadmey inspire Nonsuch Studios with ideas for new show!

Developing critical thinking, decision making, empathy, world views and creative skills with young people supporting the creative development of Nonsuch Studios' New production ‘Enough’. 

In an increasingly complex world, equipping young people with the tools to navigate challenging decisions and understand diverse perspectives is more crucial than ever. Nonsuch Studios, through its innovative new production "Enough," is doing just that. Created with and for young people, "Enough" delves into a profound and thought-provoking question: "How much would it cost to fix all the world's problems?" This exploration is not just theoretical; it's a hands-on journey designed to foster critical thinking, empathy, global perspectives, and creative skills. As part of the Centre Stage programme, Community Theatre Facilitator Syania Sharradunin led a four-week series of sessions during the summer term of 2025 with a group of Year 9 students at Nottingham Girls Academy. The impact on these young participants, and the insights gleaned by those observing the process, offer a compelling look at the power of theatre as a catalyst for growth.

‍

The young participants in the "Enough" sessions provided insightful commentary on their learning journey, highlighting the tangible skills they developed:

"I have learnt that when you're debating, you have to really listen to the other person, and listen to each other's point of view. I’ve learnt that everybody thinks differently." 

‍

"I learnt a lot about human rights, I learnt that things that I thought you should be human rights actually are not." 

These reflections demonstrate that the sessions moved beyond mere discussion, truly embedding the concepts of critical thinking and empathy into the students' understanding.

‍

Syania Sharradunin, the driving force behind these transformative sessions, shared her personal reflections on working with the Nottingham Girls Academy students:

"Throughout the four sessions with the girls at the Girls Academy, I was consistently impressed by their enthusiasm, passion, and adaptability. Initially, I tailored my plans to their age, fearing certain topics might be too complex. However, after the first session, it became clear that I had significantly underestimated them. The girls not only grasped difficult concepts perfectly but were also incredibly well-informed and held strong opinions."

Syania's initial concern about potential boredom during the research-heavy debate phase quickly dissipated as the students maintained their enthusiasm for every discussion. She found that adding layers, such as imposing restrictions or role-playing a UN Model, only further ignited their engagement. "Translating these debates and ideas into theatre pieces was effortless; often, I just needed to provide a creative stimulus, and they were off!" This highlights the seamless integration of critical discussion into creative expression, a hallmark of the "Enough" program.

The success of Syania's work and the students' engagement was clearly evident to observers. Jodie Cave ( Nonsuch Studios Student Placement) shared her observations, emphasising the students' maturity and collaborative spirit:

"Observing Syania’s workshop confirmed that the students at Nottingham Girls Academy are educated and open-minded young women. They engaged in thoughtful and mature conversations about complex social and moral issues, and thoroughly enjoyed working with Syania to transform these ideas into theatrical pieces. Watching them build upon each other’s opinions to create refined and structured performances, utilizing everything they had learned from previous workshops, truly highlighted the success of Syania’s work and the students’ passion."

Caroline Rowland, Nonsuch’s Community Engagement Producer says…. 

‘Over four two-hour sessions, our theatre facilitator, Syania, skillfully guided the young people in exploring situations from multiple perspectives, enabling them to understand the complexities of the world. Through improvisation and structured theatre games and activities, students were able to put their critical thinking into practice, creating short theatre pieces that addressed the challenge of making complicated decisions in a complicated world."

Enough will be going into its first stage of R&D in mid-August, where Artistic Director Edward Boott will be using stories, ideas, opinions and themes that came out of these sessions at Nottingham Girls Academy, The Wells Academy and Bilborough College to develop Nonsuch Studios' New production, which will be toured to 5 Nottinghamshire schools in 2026! 

‍

Thank you to Arts Council England and Backstage Trust for their Generous funding to enable this work to happen 

And to Jo Hawley and the Girls Academy staff for partnering with us to enable us to work with their amazing students! 

‍