Young people today are growing up in a world that never quite switches off. Social media is always there: in their pockets, in their bedrooms, in the margins of every conversation. The pressures that come with that are real: questions about identity, about how to behave, about what a healthy relationship even looks like when so much of life plays out online.
It’s exactly this world that IRL: In Real Life steps into.
“This is my life in more ways than not. Thank you for giving me the space to share my experiences and feel supported.”
Year 8 pupil, RCT secondary school
With just a few of our 20 IRL performances and workshops still to go, we thought you might like to know that we’ve got two exclusive public performances coming up, and we’d love to see you there.
Monday 23rd March at Yr Olwg, Church Village
Thursday 26th March at The Atrium, USW, Cardiff
Both performances are completely free. Doors open at 6:30pm. The show begins at 7:00pm.
Reserve your Free Seats NowA play years in the making
IRL: In Real Life didn’t arrive overnight. Months of writing, development, and a full month of rehearsals went into bringing it to life. And behind all of that is something Spectacle has always done: listening to communities.
Long before the script took shape, our team was already working in schools and community settings across the region, exploring themes of healthy relationships, modern masculinity, and the impact of social media with real people of all ages. Those conversations, and the lived experiences people shared, became the raw material for the play.
Writer Paul Swift worked alongside director Steve Davis and the Spectacle artistic team to shape those real insights into a story that feels honest, urgent, and genuinely relevant to young people’s lives today. If you’d like a glimpse into what that process looked like, Meghan, a work experience student from an RCT school who sat in on some of the writing sessions, wrote beautifully about the experience on our website.
On the road in RCT
Since 23rd February, Spectacle have been on the road, taking IRL into secondary schools and colleges right across Rhondda Cynon Taf.
We’ve already worked with groups at Afon Wen, Hen Felin School, Coleg y Cymoedd, Treorchy Comprehensive, and Mountain Ash Comprehensive. Before the tour closes, we’ll also be visiting Maesgwyn, Bryn Celynnog, Ty Gwyn, and Cardinal Newman.
Hundreds of young people have already experienced the play and its follow-up workshops. The response has been something else. Teachers have told us they’ve seen pupils engage, really engage, in ways that surprised even them. Some of the students who rarely participate have been among the most present in the room. That means a great deal to us.
What is IRL: In Real Life?
IRL is a participatory play for young people aged 11+, written by Paul Swift and Spectacle Theatre.
Jay is 12 years old and online, talking to his friends. He’s worried about Nevaeh, and whether Riley is about to do something he can’t take back. Then there’s Darren, and the question of whether he’ll be a good influence, or whether Jay will give in to something he can’t undo.
It’s a story young people recognise. And one that doesn’t flinch from the difficult stuff: misogyny, peer pressure, online behaviour, and what it actually means to be a good friend, a decent person, a bystander who chooses to act.
The play doesn’t lecture. It puts the audience at the heart of the action, and then the workshop opens up the conversation: what did we just see? What would we do? What does a healthy relationship actually look like?
Those conversations, guided by our trauma-informed practitioners, are where the real work happens.
Who are these performances for?
The two public gala performances are open to everyone. If any of this speaks to you, we especially hope you’ll come:
- Families with young people aged 11 and over. This is a performance you can come to together, and the conversations it starts don’t have to end when the lights go up.
- Parents and carers who want to understand the pressures their children are navigating every day.
- Teachers, youth workers, and support staff who work with this age group and want to see a programme that genuinely opens things up.
- Professionals in education, psychology, and child and adolescent wellbeing who are looking for creative approaches that complement their work.
- Councillors, community leaders, and anyone with a stake in the lives of young people in RCT and beyond.
You don’t need a connection to a school to come. You just need to care.
Performance details
| Monday 23rd March 2026 | Yr Olwg, Church Village, RCT |
| Thursday 26th March 2026 | The Atrium, USW, Cardiff |
Doors open at 6:30pm. Performance begins at 7:00pm, followed by a short discussion with the company.
Both performances are completely free to attend. Places are limited.
Reserve your Free Seats NowWant to bring IRL to your school or organisation?
The pilot tour ends on 26th March, but IRL: In Real Life is available to book for dates beyond March 2026. If you represent a school, youth organisation, or local authority and would like to discuss bringing the programme to your young people, we’d love to hear from you.
Contact Geraint Brown: Geraint.brown@spectacletheatre.co.uk | Tel: 07988 216471
IRL: In Real Life is produced by Spectacle Theatre in partnership with Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council’s Educational Psychology Service. It supports RCTCBC’s Strategic Plan for Wellbeing and is aligned with the Curriculum for Wales’ Four Purposes. All sessions are delivered by experienced, DBS-checked practitioners trained in child protection and trauma-informed practice.
