Science Club 2025
UPDATE: Science Clubs are now SOLD OUT. You can join a Waiting List by clicking on the booking calendar, and clicking on the “Join Waiting List” button. Scroll down to find out more.
Our 18+ night out with science returns to THE POTTING SHED.
Drinks, friends - with added science - Pay What You Can (PWYC) - from £7.
What? We invite leading scientists and specialists from Norfolk, the UK and internationally to brighten up a wintry night with an inspiring presentation on their specialism, fuelled by great company in our cosy bar.
Why? Science Club is an offer to our local community, neighbours and new friends to come and learn about something new.
When? Doors 6:30pm. 7:00pm-8:30pm.
How much? PWYC - for an alcoholic (or non-alcoholic) drink and a c.40-minute talk on a cutting-edge area of science.
Where? Use the Botanical Garden Bar entrance on Wensum Street, opposite the Maid’s Head Hotel - look for the fairy lights.
What else? We’ll also spend 15 minutes sharing with you our initial ideas for a theatre production about the area of science - a chance to contribute the very early ideas of a theatre production.
Science Club is generously supported by Norwich City Council & Garfield Weston Foundation.
Looking forward to seeing you.
An Introduction to Fungi.
Thursday 6th February 2025
(Doors from 6:30pm)
7:00 - 8:30pm
Science Club - £7 / £9 / £11 - for a drink and the talk.
Merlin Sheldrake, author of international bestseller ‘Entangled Life’, joins us for an evening of fungi exploration. A world-renowned mycologist, who studies underground fungal networks, Merlin’s writing has been hailed as a ‘door opener’ to this fascinating world.
Merlin will introduce the subject and share some of the cutting-edge thought-leadership emerging from his community.
curious directive will respond to Merlin’s provocations, with some instinctive ideas for a theatre production inspired by fungi.
Secret worlds - Relaxing - Inspiring
VIBE: Tom Waits x The Royal Ballet
An Introduction to Intimacy & AI.
Monday 10th February 2025
(Doors from 6:30pm)
7:00 - 8:30pm
Science Club - £7 / £9 / £11 - for a drink and the talk.
Dr. Kate Devlin is Professor of AI & Society in the Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London. She’s author of critically acclaimed Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots.
Kate will be exploring how and why we interact with this technology. What does it mean for our relationships with it and with each other? What does it mean to be human when a whole new social category of non-humans is emerging? And what changes in our world?
curious directive will respond to Kate’s provocations, with some instinctive ideas for a theatre production inspired by Intimacy & AI.
Philosophical - invigorating - Future-proofing
VIBE: Spike Jonze’s ‘Her’ x Doomscrolling
An Introduction to the microbiome of Wild Animals.
Wednesday 12th February 2025
(Doors from 6:30pm)
7:00 - 8:30pm
Science Club - £7 / £9 / £11 - for a drink and the talk.
Dr Bushra Schuitemaker (Quadram Institute) shares an introduction to the microbiome, and shines a spotlight on some cutting-edge research being carried out with wild animals.
The microbiome is a community of trillions of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microbes) living in and on our bodies. It plays a vital role in maintaining health and supporting essential bodily functions. Is the microbiome as important to humans as consciousness?
curious directive will respond to Bushra’s provocations, with some instinctive ideas for a theatre production inspired by the microbiome.
Health - Connection - Medicine
VIBE: Zoe (personalised nutrition) x The Animals of Farthing Wood
An Introduction to Rock-pooling
Wednesday 19th February 2025
(Doors from 6:30pm)
7:00 - 8:30pm
Science Club - £7 / £9 / £11 - for a drink and the talk.
Dr. Peter Barry from the Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) takes us on a rock pool safari.
A rock-pool is a dynamic environment, with daily swings in temperature and chemical composition. Predators and prey are trapped in a small ecosystem. What can we find along the Norfolk coastline? How is climate change affecting these microcosms? How are rock pools portals into other worlds?
curious directive will respond to Peter’s provocations, with some instinctive ideas for a theatre production inspired by rock-pooling.
Coastlines - Ecologies - Climate Change
VIBE: Life Between the Tides by Adam Nicholson x The Edge of the Sea by Rachel Carson
ARCHIVE - Science Club 2023 & 2024 - ARCHIVE
An Introduction to Exoplanets.
Wednesday 21st February 2024
(Doors from 7pm)
7:30 - 8:30pm
Science Club - £15
Gas-giants, Super-Earths and Neptunian planets are out there. More than we can possibly imagine. With the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scientists are peering back to the very beginning of the Universe. Along the way we are finding planets which appear very similar to our home.
Join Prof. Ruth Angus, Assistant Curator of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History (New York), who will be beaming in for this compelling talk on these mysterious new planets.
The creative response for this Science Club is co-presented by curious directive and the City of London Sinfonia.
Awe-inspiring - Emotional - Relaxing
VIBE: Gustav Holst x data visualisation.
An introduction to Ornithology
Thursday 15th February 2024
(Doors from 7pm)
7:30 - 8:30pm
Science Club - £15
Through the kitchen window, there’s a bird resting on a branch. It’s cold outside. But this bird is full of life and song. You wonder what species of bird it might be? You try to google it, but when you look up, it’s gone.
Birdwatching connects us with the sky.
Join us in welcoming Sue Bryan to curious directive. Sue travels the world to observe birds and works part-time at Titchwell Marsh for the RSPB. Sue will bring with her equipment and share an introduction to this calm, thoughtful pastime.
Comforting - Emotional - Relaxing
VIBE: Big Norfolk skies x Vaughn Williams.
An introduction to Organ Donation.
Monday 13th February 2023
(Doors from 7pm)
7:30 - 8:30pm
Science Club
In the UK, organ donation is now an opt-out decision. Our fragile bodies can offer a future life to others. But would you want to donate? Critical practical and ethical issues are explored in collaboration with charity We Are Donors. curious directive offers an insightful, emotionally intelligent introduction to organ donation, offering no answers, just questions.
This Science Club is followed by a presentation of storyboard for a theatre production based on the them, led by Artistic Director, Jack Lowe.
Political - Provocative - Thoughtful
VIBE: 21 grams (the film) meets a Norwich version of Speaker’s Corner.
An introduction to the
Science of Sleep
Thursday 16th February 2023
(Doors from 7pm)
7:30 - 8:30pm
Science Club
During the average human lifetime, we spend 229,961 asleep. It’s the subject of numerous novels, films and artworks. Now, ground-breaking theatre company curious directive introduces the latest science of sleep, including what might be going on when we’re dreaming. In collaboration with with Dr Alpar Lazar, Sleep and Brain Research Unit, UEA, curious directive offers an entertaining and extraordinary insight into why getting 8 hours could be so important.
This Science club is followed by a presentation of a storyboard for a theatre production based on the themes, led by Artistic Director, Jack Lowe.
Comforting - Emotional - Relaxing
VIBE: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker meets Michel Gondry’s The Science of Sleep.