Imagining the Future IV: Theatrescience India at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, India

This report examines an intercultural theatre exchange whose goal was to strengthen and broaden science-theatre connections already partially in place in the United Kingdom (UK) and Bangalore, India. As part of this exchange, practitioners from the Theatrescience project in the United Kingdom (UK) connected with those from the Jagriti Theatre in Bangalore, India. Practitioners from the latter company were in residence at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) for 4 weeks in 2009; they collaborated with scientists from NCBS and created 2 new pieces of theatre that explored how current biomedical science developments are affecting lives of people in India and the UK.

Activities included:

• Two productions - one primarily for adults, the other for schools - which were performed at NCBS, at Jagriti Theatre, and in Bangalore schools.
• Discussions and debates with adult and student audiences, which followed each performance.
• Two published scripts, which were made available in India, the UK, and worldwide.
• Video material of process, performances, and debate available on the Theatrescience website and Youtube.com.
• A written report and evaluation made available to the project's funder (Wellcome Trust) and others, which was posted on the Theatrescience website.

In general, as detailed in the report, the scientists from NCBS who were involved in the project were very positive about their experiences. They emphasised the interactive process of mutual learning between themselves and the Theatrescience team. The researchers found that presenting their work to theatre practitioners helped them discover new ways to communicate their work to the public, and also said that it inspired them to reflect upon their own research practices. "The fact that the Theatrescience company were in residence on the campus itself led to excellent integration between the theatrical and scientific worlds."

The qualitative impact of the initiative is reflected in responses of the scientists and theatre practitioners involved, which are quoted in the report. For example, Dr. Suhel Quader is quoted as saying: "The group made a tremendous effort to talk with researchers at NCBS and to understand the details of complex issues at the interface of ecology, conservation, and the livelihoods of forest dwellers. At the end of the Theatrescience group's stay at NCBS, the script for about a third of the play had been written (and was enacted in public). Almost everyone from NCBS whom I spoke with thought that the group had accomplished a lot in a very short time."

Furthermore, researchers report an increase in public engagement with biomedical science as a result of the invited guests, faculty, students, school pupils, and general public who attended the performances, and the group's work in the school. Dr. Rajnish Rao is quoted here as saying: "The performance in front of the NCBS community was for me a particularly striking counter example of what has often been said of art and science, that 'never the twain shall meet'. I am looking forward to Theatrescience performing 'Amols Stories' at schools in Bangalore and see theatre as refreshing new medium to not only communicate science with young people but also creating awareness and facilitating dialogues on several other issues of global importance such as transgenic crops, the drug industry etc."

"In summary, then, the outcomes of the project were met to the fullest extent possible given the limited time and economic resources, and the work produced as part of the project is continuing to develop....It suggests exciting and effective new ways to bring science and theatre together across different cultures."