Prelims

Half Title Page

Science & Theatre

Title Page

Science & Theatre: Communicating Science and Technology with Performing Arts

BY

EMMA WEITKAMP

University of the West of England, UK

AND

CARLA ALMEIDA

Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Brazil

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2022

Copyright © 2022 Emma Weitkamp and Carla Almeida, chapters 8–15 © the respective authors.

Published under an exclusive license by Emerald Publishing Limited

Reprints and permissions service

Contact: permissions@emeraldinsight.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80043-641-1 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80043-640-4 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80043-642-8 (Epub)

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

About the Authors

Pablo Aguilar is a Brazilian actor, clown and educator, with a degree in Performing Arts from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has worked with comedy and clowning since 2006 and is a founding member of Bando de Palhaços, a group that researches languages involving humour, clowning, comedy and musicality. In 2011, he joined Ciência em Cena, an area of the Museu da Vida/Fiocruz (www.museudavida.fiocruz.br) dedicated to art-science projects, where he is responsible for the production, direction and performance of the museum’s plays.

Carla Almeida is a Science Communicator and Researcher at the Museu da Vida, Science Museum of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), in Brazil, where she works in the areas of public engagement with science; science, media and society; and science and theatre. She teaches on Fiocruz’s Diploma Course in Communication and Popularisation of Science and Masters in Communication of Science, Technology and Health. She is author of articles on science communication and science and theatre and co-author of the books Cordel e Ciência: a ciência em versos populares and Ciência em Cena: Teatro no Museu da Vida.

Héliton Barros has a degree in Biological Sciences and a Masters in Science from Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Brazil. Formerly, as Manager of Science and Technology (S&T) at the Minas Gerais State Health Department, he coordinated the Research Program for the SUS (Unified Health System) of the Ministry of Health. He has experience in Science Communication, working mainly on non-formal education, management in science museums and development of scientific exhibitions. He coordinated the Visit and Public Service of the Museu da Vida/Fiocruz between 2017 and 2018 and its Education Service between 2018 and July 2021, when he took over as Head of the museum.

Robert J. Blumenschine is the Chief Scientist of the Palaeontological Scientific Trust, an Emeritus Professor at Rutgers University, USA and an Honorary Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. He has published extensively on the behaviour and ecology of human ancestors, and has conducted archaeological, palaeontological and wildlife research in Africa, principally in Tanzania as Co-leader of a human origins research project at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, since 1987.

Sadie Bowman (she/her) is a Theatre Artist, Songwriter and Co-founder of Matheatre, USA. She has presented at the Association of Science and Technology Centers conference, Theatre About Science: Theory and Practice conference, and performed for science education institutions worldwide, including Science Centre Singapore, National Taiwan Science Education Center and National Atomic Testing Museum (part of the Smithsonian Institution). Prior to collaborating with Matheatre colleagues Ricky Coates and Marc Gutman, she was a producer of comedy variety shows, a touring comedy musician and a musical theatre accompanist. She holds a BA degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Andrea Brunello has a PhD in Physics. Actor and playwright, he is the Director of Arditodesio Company and Jet Propulsion Theatre, a laboratory for theatrical creation connected to science, the people of science and the scientific tale, in coordination with the Laboratory of Communication of Physical Science at the University of Trento, Italy. He has written and performed plays all over Europe as well as Africa and the United States. His work centres on the idea that science shapes the way we look at the world and it can therefore become prime material for engaging storytelling and gripping dramaturgy.

Wyn Griffiths lectures in Product Design and Engineering, and his research involves inclusive design, Design for Planet, collaborative creativity, manifestations of the ‘Civic University’, immersion and narrative transportation. He co-founded the award-winning festival SMASHfestUK. His work spans many sectors and a disparate range of design, engineering and public engagement arenas, including event, installation, experience and exhibition design, build and management.

Lindsay Keith is a BAFTA-nominated Film-maker, Festival Producer, Writer and Research Fellow. Following a PhD at the Imperial College London, UK, she worked in broadcast television, founding The Refinery in 2011, and the award-winning immersive science and arts festival SMASHfestUK in 2014. She works as a Research Fellow at the University of Greenwich, UK, where her specialism is embodiment and behaviour change through immersive narratives.

Andrea Leenen has been employed by PAST, the Palaeontological Scientific Trust, South Africa, since 2000 in various management positions, currently as CEO. She holds an Honours degree (with distinction) in Archaeology and Anthropology and an MSc degree (with distinction) in Palaeontology from the University of the Witwatersrand. Her interests allow her to combine her passions for grassroots science education, nature conservation, the performing arts, the public understanding and communication of the palaeosciences and the advancement of African leadership in the field. Through PAST, she uses the science of our African origins to advocate anti-discrimination, conservation, a love of Africa and the betterment of our planet. Sadly, Andrea Leenen passed away in early 2022.

Mário Montenegro is a Theatre Director, Actor, Playwright, Professor of Performance and Theatre Studies at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, and Senior Researcher at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies. He is the Artistic Director of Marionet (www.marioneteatro.com), a theatre company focused on the interplay between theatre and science, where he has directed more than 40 plays. His research interests relate to the interactions between the performing arts and science, including science dramaturgies, worldwide production of plays related to science, research-based theatre, theatre with researchers and the performing arts in science communication.

Stefano Oss is a Professor of Physics at the Physics Department of University of Trento, Italy. He worked as an experimentalist in the field of low-energy atomic physics and as a theoretician in the area of dynamical algebraic symmetries applied to molecular spectroscopy and is author/co-author of about 130 scientific papers. He decided to contribute to the development and functioning of a Laboratory of Communication of Physical Science to support the physics education research area. He believes that scientists and science need specialists and new ideas in the communication arena to bring this enterprise to its highest level.

Javier Garcia de Souza is a biologist, actor and dancer with a PhD in Natural Sciences and a Diploma in Public Communication of Sciences. He is a Researcher of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina, working in limnology and ecological aquaculture of native fish. He is also a Teaching Assistant at the National University of La Plata and Science Communicator on radio, TV social media and especially through scenic arts. He is a member of #Exploracuátic@s, a project focused on environmental education through games, of Poper Stand Up, a group of scientist-comedians that communicate sciences with humour, of the dance company Espiardanza and of GECE [science and scene studies group]. He is Author, Choreographer and Director of Escenas de la Vida Acuática, which combines science, theatre, dance and music.

Erik Stengler teaches at the Cooperstown Graduate Program, SUNY Oneonta, USA, situating science museums, science centres and planetariums in the wider context of science communication. As an Astronomer, he worked using data from space-based observatories: the International Ultraviolet Explorer and the Hubble Space Telescope. After moving into the field of science communication, he developed a practice-based research interest in science museums and in science in popular culture, specifically in TV and film. In both areas, he has published articles, book chapters and edited conference proceedings volumes, often in close collaboration with students whom he likes to encourage to present at conferences and meetings.

Jan Świerkowski is a curator, futurologist, artist and astronomer and holds an MA in Astrophysics from the Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland. He is currently a Researcher at the Research Centre for Communication and Culture in Lisbon. He is an Honorary Ambassador of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, winner of the Ministry of Science and National Heritage Science Populariser of the Year Award in Poland 2017 and holder of a patent US11024191B2 for a System for a multimodal educational display in a pop-up science centre. In 2012, he curated Cosmic Underground, an artsci immersive performance held in a freight train travelling from Tallinn to Lisbon, and funded by the European Commission.

Emma Weitkamp is a Professor of Science Communication at the University of the West of England, Bristol UK, where she co-directs the Science Communication Unit. Her current research focuses on the actors involved in science communication, specifically intermediaries in the process including artists and NGOs; and narrative as an engagement tool (both from the perspective of the communicators and wider publics for narrative forms of engagement). She has produced theatre (most recently, Chaos Cabaret) as well as researched audiences for science theatre. She is the author of numerous papers, and co-author of the book Creative Research Communication (Manchester University Press).

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all those who completed our survey of science-theatre in the context of science communication and who shared the survey with their contacts. A special thanks goes to colleagues who participated in the pre-test of the survey questionnaire and helped us to improve it. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers of the proposal for this book, who, through their thoughtful suggestions, shaped the book that we offer to you, our readers.