'If there's one thing we need to do, it's to get the younger generation to think differently about how we can solve these problems'

With songs by Amy Wadge and a storyline about a game-changing natural energy invention, Eye of the Storm is a musical for our times. Wadge and writer/ director Geinor Styles tell Jenny White why they're glad it's back on stage in Swansea this month

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THE tale of an aspiring storm chaser who travels to the US to work on an invention that harnesses the power of tornadoes is back on the stage in Wales this month.

Theatr na nÓg's musical, Eye of the Storm, was conceived, written and directed by the company's artistic director, Geinor Styles, and features songs by Grammy Award-winning songwriter Amy Wadge.

Like all of Theatr na nÓg's work, this show is about more than just a cracking story and great country music.

"Geinor is an amazing person because all the projects that she does go beyond just doing a show in a theatre," says Wadge. "There's always an educational element for young people. In this one, it's highlighting what young carers have to go through, so it also includes quite a lot of discussion points for young carers, and they were involved in the creation."

The show also aims to inspire more girls to study science.

"At the time I started work on Eye of the Storm, we'd been doing a play about a scientist and I'd had a meeting with teachers about science in schools," Styles recalls. "A lot of the teachers were saying to me that the biggest issue they had was that young girls would drop science subjects around about Year 9, even though they were very talented at it.

"There were a lot of issues as to why girls were deciding it wasn't a career choice for them: what family members were saying to them, the perception of female scientists, all these sorts of things, and I wanted to marry these two issues."

The idea to make the central character a storm chaser came after Theatr na nÓg ran workshops for young carers and discovered that they wanted to tell a story that lifted them out of their demanding day-to-day lives.