• Come and find me on Substack

    If you’d like to read my articles you’ll find me on Substack: substack.com/@lizsmithpage75 Read more

  • I Was Arrested by the Thought Police. In the UK.

    Being arrested for a crime I might commit in the future, that I wasn’t intending to commit, sounds like something you might read in a novel by George Orwell. I didn’t expect that to happen to me in the UK in 2023, but that is… Read more

  • Join me at London cop – 9 Dec 2023

    At 5pm I’ll be speaking on a panel is devoted to the way artists, filmmakers and musicians are responding to the climate crisis. I will be showing a clip from one of our upcoming films. Read more

  • The rise of Illiberalism in Gen Z

    We are seeing evidence of the rise of illiberalism across all age groups, it’s just more difficult to unpack in the context of Gen Z because, in many ways, they seem far more accepting of difference than older cohorts. Read more

  • Legal But Harmful

    What are we willing to tolerate to protect free speech? “Legal but harmful” – This isn’t protection from cancel culture, it’s child abuse. Read more

  • How Resilient IS Gen Z?

    In some ways, Gen Z is extremely resilient. I think we often underestimate how truly challenging it is to grow up in a world of 24/7 connectivity and social media. They are the guinea pig generation for the mobile digital technology age and thus they’re… Read more

  • What’s Going On In Your Head Christmas Special

    The end of the year is upon us, and what a curious year it has been. As we look back on the ups, downs, and betweens, our talented performers and engaged audience stand out. What better way therefore than to end the year with a Christmas Special… Read more

  • Register for our September show

    Registration now open for our show in September on the theme of neurodiversity Read more

  • Loss – 19 June 2020

    Originally posted on What's Going On In Your Head?: On 19th June 2020 our online jam was on the theme of loss. Loss is a bit of an immense subject and we were steered through many different aspects of it by a truly talented and… Read more

  • Registration now open for our June show

    Read more

  • Kindess Show

    Originally posted on What's Going On In Your Head?: On 19 May 2020 our show was on the theme of kindness and it was a night of firsts. If you couldn’t join us, or you want to watch parts of it again, head over to… Read more

  • Registration now open for our next show

    Read more

  • Hope – 19 April 2020

    Originally posted on What's Going On In Your Head?: Our second online jam was on the theme of hope and 10 very special performers filled us with hope and connection through their poetry, music, comedy and live drawings. A silver lining of having to run… Read more

  • Join us for our next online jam

    With Covid 19 halting our live shows, I’m not hosting them online. Come and join me live from my living room! Read more

  • My next live show 24 March 2020

    I’m hosting the next What’s Going On In Your Head? show in London on 24 March 2020 and the theme we have chosen to explore is mania. What it is like to be on a creative high, to have boundless energy, heightened perceptions and to… Read more

  • “Let’s Talk About The Dangers of Social Media” Event – 12 November 2019

    On 12th November 2019 I am hosting the monthly “Let’s Talk About …” event in London. We will be debating the dangers of social media. If you would like to attend click here to be added to the guest list. The panelists include Dr Paul… Read more

  • Calling all 15 to 22 year olds!

    I am making a documentary and I want to understand what it is like to be young today and how screens and technology have made your life different from my own. This is why I am looking for 15 – 22 year olds to assist… Read more

  • Why This Matters

    Originally posted on SwipeLeftForAddiction: Tech is advancing fast, our behaviours are already being modified by it, our privacy is being wholly undermined and our lives are being manipulated more and more by unaccountable forces. “We cannot have a society in which, if two people wish… Read more

  • The Podcast, Episode 4 – The Secret Inner Workings of the Mind

    Originally posted on The Secret Illness: https://soundcloud.com/secretillness/secret-illness-episode-4-mixdown This episode is an edited recording of a live event The Secret Illness ran in November 2018 at London’s hClub. It features poetry and music performances from people living with OCD and some incredibly frank and open discussion… Read more

  • Is Addiction to Tech Stifling Teens’ Creativity?

    Originally posted on SwipeLeftForAddiction: Have you found yourself marveling at how teens can produce videos and images with filters and effects at hyper-speed just with their smartphones? Tech has given this generation of teens an incredible suite of creative tools at their fingertips and they… Read more

  • The Podcast, Episode 3 – OCD Feels Like

    Originally posted on The Secret Illness: https://soundcloud.com/secretillness/episode-3-ocd-feels-like This episode came out of a creative experiment. At this year’s OCDAction conference in London we set up an audio booth and asked delegates to record, anonymously, what OCD feels like to them. If you like our podcast… Read more

  • What does it portend when wifi trumps the beach?

    Originally posted on SwipeLeftForAddiction: I was lucky enough to find myself on a beautiful island in Thailand last winter and I remember being struck by the sight of a group of young backpackers sitting together at the local beach bar at sunset. Each of them… Read more

  • And that’s verbatim …

    Originally posted on The Secret Illness: The Secret Illness is creating a verbatim theatre piece and you can be a part of it’s creation! Verbatim theatre is a form of documented theatre in which plays are constructed from the precise words spoken by people interviewed about a particular event or… Read more

  • What Do You Think?

    Originally posted on The Secret Illness: OCD Community Co-Creation, United Kingdom At the 2018 OCDAction conference we put a call out to those attending to come to the Secret Illness Art Desk and take part in making a co-created collage. The contributors selected images and… Read more

  • What happens when creativity and mental health get together?

    Originally posted on The Secret Illness: https://youtu.be/chBgxF9FPp8 The Secret Illness began in Summer 2015 with a simple aim, to explore the realities of living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) through the creative arts. We did not know what would come out of it, if anything… Read more

  • The Wall Interactive Exhibition

    Originally posted on The Secret Illness: In August 2015 the first post went live on The Secret Illness Wall. There are now 150 Wall Posts, each one a personal story of how OCD affects them. Up until recently The Wall had only existed in an… Read more

  • Silicon Valley’s Secret Sauce

    Originally posted on SwipeLeftForAddiction: “The short-term dopamine driven feedback loops we’ve created are destroying how society works.” Chamath Palihapitiya, Former Facebook Executive Chamath’s now widely quoted statement presents a gloomy outlook for our future and dopamine has often been cited as Silicon Valley’s secret sauce… Read more

  • What will today’s 14 year old be like when she is 34?

    Originally posted on SwipeLeftForAddiction: My first Facebook post about Swipe Left For Addiction has already created a conversation between people across six different countries. Parents are telling me about how their kids are able to make friends all over the world when they’re playing multi-user… Read more

  • Be a Part of a Spoken Word Co-Creation at the OCDAction conference

    Originally posted on The Secret Illness: On 3 March 2018 we will be getting creative at the OCDAction conference in the UK. If you are going to be at the conference you can take part in our co-creation project entitled #OCDFeelsLike. How Can I get… Read more

  • The Podcast, Episode 2: Mums& Daughters & OCD

    Originally posted on The Secret Illness: https://soundcloud.com/secretillness/podcast2-mixdownupdated In the second episode Becca explores how OCD affects relationships between mums and daughters. Becca talks with a mum and daughter in New York who both have OCD, another mum and daughter in the UK whose daughter lives… Read more

  • Dimitri Scarlato to chair Q&A

    Originally posted on Rebel Of The Keys: On Tuesday 7 February there will be another screening of Rebel of the Keys at JW3. Following the screening there will be a Q&A with musicologist Dr Anastasia Belina-Johnson and Mark Charles, pictured here while filming scenes for the… Read more

  • Rebel of the Keys screening at Pontio with BAFTA Cymru

    Originally posted on Rebel Of The Keys: On Wednesday 16th November Rebel of the Keys will be screening at Pontio as part of an event coordinated in partnership with The Welsh National Opera and Bafta Cymru. In making the film it was a real journey of discovery… Read more

  • The Podcast, Episode 1: Steph

    Originally posted on The Secret Illness: https://soundcloud.com/secretillness/episode-1-steph In this first episode of The Secret Illness podcast we take a deep dive into Steph’s story of her OCD experiences. Steph, her significant other, employer/mentor and father take us on her journey from spiral to diagnosis, to… Read more

  • Rebel of the Keys Screening in Wales

    Originally posted on Rebel Of The Keys: As we count down the days to the UK premiere of André Tchaikowsky’s opera The Merchant of Venice at The Welsh National Opera we are delighted to announce that our documentary Rebel of the Keys will be screened… Read more

  • The UK Premiere Screening at JW3

    Originally posted on Rebel Of The Keys: On Monday 11 July 2o16 the feature length version of Rebel Of The Keys was screened for the first time. There was a great buzz of excitement at JW3 as many of those who had been involved in… Read more

  • UK Premiere of Rebel of the Keys

    Originally posted on Rebel Of The Keys: We are delighted to announce that tickets have just gone on sale for the UK premiere of Rebel of the Keys. The screening will be taking place on 11 July at 8.15 pm at the Jewish Community and Arts… Read more

  • This Old Ghost

    Originally posted on The Secret Illness: The Secret Illness is all about exploring the realities of living with OCD through the creative arts. “This Old Ghost” was developed from a poem written by James Lloyd. James is a writer and science journalist in the UK… Read more

  • The last day of shooting

    Originally posted on Rebel Of The Keys: Shooting of Rebel of the Keys was completed with this final day of pick ups on Sunday.  The shoot took place at the beautiful house of Lady Camilla Panufnik, the very place where Andre Tchaikowsky spent hours talking with his… Read more

  • Andre Tchaikowsky Returns To Warsaw

    Originally posted on Rebel Of The Keys: Adrian Erod playing Shylock Last summer (2013), in the stunning setting of The Bregenz Opera festival in Austria, Andre Tchaikowsky became current again. Some thirty years after his death, his opera composition of The Merchant Of Venice was… Read more

  • Meeting Halinka

    Originally posted on Rebel Of The Keys: In the making of this documentary we met some extraordinary and fascinating characters, but one of the most precious moments was when we finally met Halinka Janowska, Andre’s closest friend for many years.  Their relationship was tumultuous at times… Read more