Director

Second Nature

CREATED BY MIND OUT’S SECOND NATURE STEERING GROUP

WRITTEN BY MARTHA REED

I was awarded DYCP funding to add and embed new digital and multimedia skills into my practice as a Queer Neurodivergent self-producing performance artist to increase the accessibility, innovation and ambition of my work. As part of this funding, I worked with my Digital Theatre Mentor Paula Varjack, Writer Emma Zadow, Puppetry Consultant Nikki Charlesworth, and Actor Rachelle Grubb to explore different ways to digitally bring this story to life, with in-kind support from The Broadway Cinema, Nottingham.

In 2025, Mind Out secured Arts Council funding to develop the story with a group of young people from Nottinghamshire, who have formed the Second Nature Steering Group. Through a recruitment process in 2025, we found an experienced ‘choose your own adventure’ style writer who is bringing the young people’s vision for the story to life. We will share a proof of concept in 2026 at The Broadway.

Second Nature will be an eco-feminist ‘choose your own adventure’ digital experience that follows the protagonist's escape from the government-imposed rewilding of their rural working-class town! Their mother, like all other ancestors, is virtually and physically downloaded, forming the ‘forest’. She has to decide whether to prioritise their future or their mother’s immortality. Our audience of survivors will help them choose.

For more information, visit Mind Out’s website.