James Smith

Lessons in Temperament

The story of four neurodiverse brothers, told through a cinematic escape into the art and science of piano tuning. An instrument goes out of tune whether or not anyone plays it – something that musician and theatre-maker James Smith knows all too well. So after months of being unemployed during the pandemic, he decides that he will spend his lockdown visiting shuttered theatres, and doing what he can to keep their pianos in tune. This ritual soon unlocks James’ own search for balance, growing up as one of four brothers living with obsessive-compulsive disorder, autism, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.