Sunday 5th & Monday 6th July
4pm & 7pm
Drop City Books, Hanley
The Friendship Lab is a company of young girls who tackle adults’ friendship dilemmas through dance, songs, debate and brutally honest wisdom!
Join them for a moving and honest performance exploring the highs and lows of human connection, difficult decisions about when to tell your truth, the heartbreak of exclusion and trying to fit in, and the complex, sometimes painful, realities of maintaining friendships in adulthood.
Taking place at the coolest book shop of our time - Drop City Books. So grab a friend, old or new, and come for a night out at the Friendship Lab!
SHOW CREDITS
Devised & performed by Amelia, Darcie, Evelyn, Katie, Luna, Martha, Meg & Monroe
Written by Gabriella Gay, Clare Reynolds & the company
Songs by Amelia & Katie
Lab technicians - Georgina Clare & Emily Adams
Directed by Clare Reynolds
Composed by Paul Rogerson
Producer - Sarah Richardson
Designed by April Dalton
Design Assistant - Izzy Morse-Pickard
Projection Design & Branding by Sarah Nadin
Lighting Designer - Alex Shenton
Production management - Barry Smith
Assistant Artist - Shanice Harris
Assistant Producer - Oly Goncalves
Evaluation & Creative researcher - Nic Winstanley
Dramaturg - Lou Cope
Set builder - Louise Rider
In partnership with Drop City Books.
Thank yous…
To previous members of the Friendship Lab who helped make this show - Luna W & Annie, plus original lab technician Shanice Harris! Parents of the company for their commitment and support. Pals who made friendship bracelets with us. And importantly to everyone who submitted their Friendship Dilemmas to the Lab… we really appreciate your vulnerability : )
Production photos by Jenny Harper….
A bit of background on the Friendship Lab….
This project began back in May 2025 when we decided to run a holiday project for girls aged 10-13 alongside writer Gabriella Gay, and dance/drama artist Shanice Harris. After working with a lot of teenagers for the past couple of years, I’d really observed a drop in confidence between tween and teen years. I wanted to create more opportunities to encourage girls to keep taking up space during all the biological changes they're going through, and the societal pressures that tell them to be small, be good and be nice.
So much of girls' power lies in their ability to form and maintain relationships, and we quickly realised that this group were EXPERTS in friendship. The way they discussed issues, the way they listened to eachother blew us away and planted the seeds which grew into this gorgeous show.
So, we did a national callout for adults to submit their friendship dilemmas, which of course we received loads, and they respond to 5 of them during the show, whilst also trying to address the key themes that came up. Over many more workshops spent writing, dancing, debating, singing…. the Friendship Lab world became real. A celebration of friendship, a show full of wisdom, sticky dilemmas and great advice.
A gift from girls to grown-ups to remind us of the importance of friendships and an opportunity to reflect on how we might better hold on to them. We hope you love it.
Clare x
Devising photos by Jenny Harper
Submit a Dilemma to the Friendship Lab!
Do you see your friends often enough?
Have you fallen out, lost touch, or drifted apart from someone important?
Are you finding it hard to make new friends?
For us grown ups, friendships can be challenging.
But luckily, we know some experts!!
The Friendship Lab is company of girls aged 10–13 with big ideas, wisdom, and heaps of creativity when it comes to friendship. They are making a show where they’ll share what they’ve discovered about being a good friend, but they also want to hear from YOU!
WE NEED YOU to send us your adult friendship dilemmas and The Friendship Lab will put them under the microscope. Some of them may make it into the show, and all of them will help the development of the Friendship Lab.
You will remain anonymous but please leave your age!