Breathing space

My physics tutor at school, Mr Cross, nearly ruined science for me. Luckily, thanks to a new wave of inspiring organisations and awe-inspired personalities, the mind-set of science as a boring chore to be ‘taught’ is over. curious directive was founded as an agency through which science can be explored in devised theatre. The vision of curious directive is perhaps quite specific, in relative terms, to the ‘science and art’ debate. We make science-inspired theatre minus the often patronising ‘Theatre in Education’ vibe of celebrating science (not to denounce the incredible work of science/theatre educators.) Our devising process nurtures the premise of giving science space to breathe in an innovative theatre environment. So we explore how theatre and science can fuse in order to capture something more vital. We use movement, multimedia and dynamic scenography, and the pieces have been in corridors, fields and theatres – something always discovered as we curiously explore. We look at the wider international ethical and moral questions of science, biographies of scientists/events, explorations of macro/microscopic processes in nature and future technologies, suggesting responses rather than answers to the questions these raise.

The preparation differs every time. But often we genuinely begin with the simplest of stimuli. ‘Return to the Silence’, ‘Exoplanets’ and ‘Your Last Breath’ began with scribbling in a book, writing on a music score and watching a documentary respectively. Our next piece has started with a fascination for perfume... However, often the shows begin much earlier than we realise, in a frantic relay race through the genealogical rehearsal periods of the company. “Great idea, but not in this show – the next one?” is something often laughed about but is nevertheless true.

Scientists who join our projects need to have an empathy with what we’re trying to do, a vital basic curiosity in how their specialism might work in the complex world of devised theatre. Once I’ve found a suitable scientist, the ensemble focuses on developing a working vocabulary to explore the incredible topics together. Each time we begin we spend time away from home excavating ideas, analysing snippets of images and how they relate to the science – and it is always inspiring. We discuss making the invisible science visible for the audience, as well as exploring layers in ideas and working out how to involve audiences intellectually and emotionally. We excavate how we might inject a poetic text into narratives in a way which connects with us, and hopefully our audience. After flashes of characters often in utter normality, we might conceive the first narrative strand…

The scientist in the rehearsal room acts as a provocateur, editor of text (visual and spoken), lecturer and confidant. It is the lens which a scientist wears which makes his/her influence all the more interesting to the piece. It’s a union which we’re only just beginning to explore.