This seminar examines past and present interactions between the sciences and the theatre from two different yet complementary angles. The first analyzes how scientists continue to theatricalize themselves and their modes of inquiry in order to communicate with the societies around them. The second focuses on how 'science plays' (and operas) re-shape and respond to science and scientists: their methods, their value systems and their insights. We will also inquire to what extent strategies of theatricalization are necessary, especially when scientific results require broad societal consensus if they are to have any transformative impact (e.g., as regards climate change or matters of public health).

A wide range of periods and fields of knowledge will be visited. To mention but some: Foucault’s pendulum experiment; practices of autopsy; the discovery of DNA and its double-helix structure; the (very recent) discovery of gravitational waves; environmental sciences; and exploring implications of the growth of AI. Historical figures of interest will include Socrates, Galileo, Gaust, Oppenheimer, and Rosalind Franklin. Theatre works discussed will feature canonical plays and operas (e.g. by Aristophanes, Marlowe, Goethe, Brecht, Capek, Dürrenmatt, Glass, Adams, etc.) but also more recent work by Edson (W;T), Ziegler (Photograph 51), and Soutar (The Watershed). Outside researchers, including scientists, may be invited for select sessions.