Science In Theatre Festival Will Focus On AI, Mixed Reality, and Smartwear

The inaugural women-driven Science in Theatre Festival is set to kick off on November 12 at Nancy Manocherian's the cell theatre in New York. The event will feature science-infused plays, discussion panels, and an exhibit of theatre technologies.

Artificial intelligence (AI), brain monitoring technology (EEG), Mixed Reality (VR and AR), various wearable devices, and more are at the heart of the festival experience.

"The Science and Theatre Festival is an opportunity for all of us to learn together and discuss how new technology can be applied to the post-Covid arts world," said Tjaša Ferme, festival organizer and artistic director of Transforma Theatre. "We partnered playwrights with scientists to create new plays and interactive experiences, evoking the fascinating sense of experimentation in both senses: theatrical and scientific."

Audiences will have the chance to see three original plays, each an interdisciplinary collaboration between playwrights and scientists. The performances focus on subjects at the cutting edge of scientific study, including biodata manipulation and genetic modification.

Participating playwrights Saviana Stanescu, Alexis Roblan, and Wi-Moto Nyoka worked on this theatrical experiment together with data scientist Niki Athanasiadou, PhD, MIT fellow and TED speaker Dr. Heidi Boisvert, and molecular biologist Polona Šafarič Tepeš.

"I really enjoyed researching the latest trends in machine learning and collaborating with Dr. Niki Athanasiadou," said Saviana Stanescu, Romanian-born winner of the New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Play (Waxing West). "I've always been trying to give a voice to the oppressed. That is why I wanted to write about an immigrant woman developing an authentic friendship with artificial intelligence." Stanescu will present her play, Zebra 2.0, about an undocumented janitor named Rona befriending the AI in the building where she works night shifts.

The festival could explore what role theatre might play when critically examining technology's place in society, and speculate about potential futures, believes Dr. Heidi Boisvert. "As artists, creative technologists and women working with AI, machine learning, natural language processing, synthetic media and more, we have a responsibility to ensure that these emerging technologies are accessible for diverse communities," Dr Boisvert said. "Innovation should be grounded in ethics and implemented for societal good, not corporate profit or systems of oppression."

At the festival, innovative brands and startups will have the opportunity to present technologies with applications in the arts. Developers of EEG devices, wearables, biodata sensors, and more are welcome to apply.