Please ASK! Releases Methodology ManuaL
During the two years starting in 2023, the Please ASK project underwent a comprehensive process of research, capacity-building, residencies, and the creation of three art-science theatre performances, with premieres in April 2025. The insights gained from the developed methodologies are presented in the Methodology Manual, reflecting the perspectives of the three cultural organisations involved.
Three Art Science theatre productions:
- Arte Urbana Collectif used multi-layered narrative, multimedia, and futuristic aesthetics to address topics like Astrobiology, appealing to teenagers and adults. They integrated pre-recorded video segments where the scientists played fictional characters, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the scientific knowledge.
- Pro Progressione utilised a site-specific outdoor immersive performance on Evolutionary Biology themes, turning a forest into a participatory learning environment where the scientist participated directly with the artists in guided exploration.
- Dafa Puppet Theatre aimed for emotional proximity to quantum logic for young children (8+), using puppets and rhythm to translate concepts like decoherence (visualised as a “wolf” disrupting harmony).
The methodologies centre on three key areas:
1. Scientists as Co-Creators: Scientists were integrated as active collaborators, not just consultants, ensuring their knowledge shaped the artistic content and conceptual depth of the productions. This included having scientists proofread scripts to correct inaccuracies, such as details on quasar observations.
2. Iterative and Experimental Process: The creative teams utilised an iterative workflow defined by deep research, experimentation, and testing. This cycle involved collecting data, brainstorming, devising, writing, testing with small audiences, and revising, acknowledging that some theatrically strong ideas had to be discarded for being scientifically incorrect. The project found that constraints like a pre-set scientific topic and a concrete audience could be creatively stimulating.
3. Translating Science through Embodied Experience: The productions employed diverse artistic forms to translate complex science into tangible experiences, deliberately moving beyond didactic lectures.
The manual concludes that cross-disciplinary creation enriches both fields, providing artists with new understandings of the scientific method and delivering science communication that is tangible, imaginative, and emotionally resonant.
The Please ASK! Methodology Manual is now available Open Access under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.