The extraordinary meeting held in Coimbra on November 25-27, 2021, with participants from Portugal, Spain, UK, US, Italy, France, Germany, Brazil, Belgium, The Netherlands, Czechia, Switzerland, Norway, Canada, revealed a rich ecosystem of academics, theatre practitioners and science communicators, who perform, communicate and/or reflect upon science through theatre.
Recent publications, such as “The Cambridge Companion to Theatre and Science”¹ (2020), “Performance, Medicine and the Human”² (2020), and announced forthcoming publications such as “Science & Theatre: Communicating Science and Technology with Performing Arts”³ (2022), “Performing and Communicating Science”⁴ (2023) and “Routledge Companion to Performance and Science”⁵ (2023), confirm a dynamic and diverse field of practice and study.
These works address a variety of perspectives on the theatre/performance and science intersections, such as geographies, histories, scientific disciplines and topics, audiences, participants, venues, formats, scientific approaches in theatre practice, displaying an intense practice and research in this field.
Considering this effervescent context, and following the success of the first meeting, we will organize in Coimbra, on November 9-11, 2023, the 2nd International Conference “Theatre about Science”.
¹Kirsten Shepherd-Barr (ed.); ²Alex Mermikides; ³Emma Weitkamp & Carla Almeida (eds.); ⁴Mário Montenegro, Fernando Matos Oliveira, Teresa Girão, Sara Amaral & Francisca Moreira (eds.); ⁵Paul Johnson, Simon Parry & Adele Senior (eds.)
+INFO
University of Coimbra
November 9th to 11th, 2023
More information: https://theatreaboutscience.com
Registration: https://theatreaboutscience.com/registration
We accept contributions of a diverse nature, from the performing arts to science communication, and from academic to practical research and performance. We also encourage works that investigate the relationships between theatre and formal, natural, health, and social sciences.
Participation is welcome from people around the world, with the aim of mapping and expanding the network of people interested in this interdisciplinary field. Is this your case? What are you working on? Why do you do it?
We accept contributions on subjects such as:
Scientific topics and concepts
Theatrical subgenres and forms
Contemporary practice in theatre about science
Future trends in theatre about science
Theatrical research processes versus scientific research processes
Theatre in the training of scientific researchers
Funding in the arts and science
Communicating science through theatre
Addressing issues such as:
Can theatre help solve scientific problems?
Does scientific knowledge transform theatre?
What kinds of audiences attend performances about science?
Does theatre have a place in science communication?
What kind of knowledge can theatre provide to/about science?
Can theatre transform the ways scientists conduct their research?
How does theatre engage with public debates about science and scientific developments?
Can theatre inspire new scientific research?
Where is the boundary, if any, between communicating and performing science?
Formats accepted for the proposals:
Oral presentation on one of the conference themes (15 minutes).
Discussion panel: a group of up to 4 speakers on a specific subject. Proposals must include an abstract and a designated convenor (who will organize and conduct the debate) [90 minutes].
Lecture-performance related to the conference themes (max. 30 minutes).
Workshop focused on one of the conference themes (max. 90 minutes).
Short performance inspired by one of the conference themes (max. 30 minutes).
Scientific Committee
Andrea Brunello (IT), Carina Bartleet (UK), Carla Almeida (PT), Carlos Fiolhais (PT), Daniel Gamito-Marques (PT), Joana Lobo Antunes (PT), Kirsten Shepherd-Barr (UK), Teresa Girão (PT), Paul Johnson (UK)
Keynote Speakers
Catherine Courtet (FR), Emma Weitkamp (UK), Liliane Campos (FR), Steve Abbott (EUA)
Organizing Committee
Mário Montenegro, Fernando Matos Oliveira, Sara Varela Amaral, Ana Santos Carvalho, Clara Barata, Francisca Moreira
In partnership with
University of Coimbra, Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rómulo – Centro Ciência, Institute of Interdisciplinary Research of the University of Coimbra, CEIS20, Gil Vicente Academic Theatre, Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Coimbra, SciComPT
With the support of
Portuguese Republic — Culture / Directorate-General for the Arts, Coimbra City Council
- News
- International Conference "Theatre about Science" 2023
- Reduced registration fee for the "Theatre about Science" conference
- New Keynote Speaker for Theatre about Science Conference
- Here's the conference's Preliminary Programme
- The International Conference was amazing!
- These are the three "Theatre about Science" shows
- Clipping
- A Marionet em palco à procura de um espaço comum entre a arte e a ciência [Diário As Beiras]
- Coimbra recebe o colóquio internacional “Teatro sobre Ciência” [Jornal A Cabra]
- Coimbra vai debater relação entre teatro e ciência em colóquio internacional [Público]
- Colóquio internacional junta teatro e ciência na mesma sala [A Cabra]
- Relação entre Teatro e Ciência vai estar em debate esta semana em Coimbra [Notícias UC]
- Recent Publications [The British Society for Literature and Science]
