‘Unmediated’ Science Plays: Seeing What Sticks

Abstract

Kirsten E. Shepherd-Barr examines contemporary science theatre, with particular attention paid to interdisciplinary and experimental theatre emerging across Europe. These dramas reveal, Shepherd-Barr argues, that it is the process of working towards a piece of theatre rather than the finished product that is of greatest interest, both to audiences and to the theatre-makers themselves. Such theatrical performances invite extensive participation in meaning-making amongst all of those involved, including a range of scientific consultants. In conclusion, Shepherd-Barr reads these new dramas as extensively interdisciplinary and co-produced, leading to a new form of productively entangled epistemological experience.