Themes

Arts, Sciences and Technology

Here, we explore the meeting point between two forms of inquiry—scientific and artistic—and the endless possibilities this intersection creates.

True to its deeply interdisciplinary nature, Pritzker Molecular Engineering boasts a full-scale laboratory devoted entirely to meaningful collaborations among scientists and artists called STAGE – Scientists, Technologists and Artists Generating Exploration.

STAGE creates plays and films inspired by science and technology that are relevant to the lives we lead—lives influenced by sophisticated technological and scientific advances at every turn.

The work that STAGE generates conveys the flavor, substance, and texture of scientific activity. Rather than science lectures disguised as plays, these are emotionally engaging, entertaining stories to give audiences visceral experiences that can move them, make them laugh, and ignite their curiosity.

STAGE aims to:

Promote understanding of the sciences in the public arena, particularly given the growing, widely publicized national debate between scientific fact and fiction
Address scientists’ awareness of their own challenges in communicating their work more effectively, and their hunger to do so
Cultivate appreciation and collaboration between the two cultures of science and art

Science has everything that makes for good drama: passion, big dreams, intrigue, despair, high stakes, failures, eurekas, and new ways of understanding. As science illuminates how the world works, and theatre illuminates how people work, the two disciplines are well-poised to enhance each other. Even lessons from the scientific process itself and how “accidental discoveries” may ultimately lead to breakthroughs aligns with the creation of art.

At the intersection of science and art, STAGE is forging new directions for experimental inquiry into the complexity of human creativity.