Science Theatre

by David Quang Pham

David Quang Pham’s “Big Bang”

Once my parents sent me to Space Camp and operas as a kid, science and theatre became inseparable. Eric Retan, my AP Calculus teacher, made science communication my life’s purpose when he encouraged me to pursue storytelling when I adapted his assignments into a musical fable. After an astrophysics and theatre education at Michigan State University, I studied playwriting and dramaturgy as the Working Title Playwrights Apprentice in Atlanta and Playwrights Foundation Literary Fellow in San Francisco. Now residing and producing in Manhattan for the past several years, the community has come to know me as the science musical writer. As a Vietnamese American scientist, Eastern fables and modern science inform my stories and dramaturgy. My pride and joy have always been composing formulaic songs, like time dilation:

Time will tell if we ever uncover the “Dramaturgy Formula.” I am on this quest to share my science-inspired dramaturgical methods and recipes to motivate creatives to radically challenge their existing practices with intersectional and interdimensional disciplines.

What is a Science Dramaturg?

My definition of a science dramaturg is a science communicator who brings science out of stories. For a piece of work, I am a) a cheerleader for science and theatre, b) a doula for science in theatre and vice versa, and c) a surgeon for science and theatre.

As a science dramaturg, I dedicate more time to science stories than any other kind. They are plays about science, or within the genre of science fiction, or sometimes it is what I typically write: fables that teach science. These human stories mean so much more to me than any other pressures I feel as an earthling.

I look to the scientific processes for the betterment of a new science play, or to improve the clarity of science communication in a production.

The New Play Process

These are the questions I ask the writer:

• What sort of story is this? A family drama, a self-discovery story, a historical piece, a biography?
• What is the subject matter? Physical science, earth science and life science, math?
• How is science integral? Is science integral to whichever characters or the fabric of the entire story?
• Who is your audience? Are they science-fiction enthusiasts or are they scientists?
• Who are your collaborators? A scientist in the field?

What is the Subject Matter?

The subject matters lead me to execute macro dramaturgy. This enables me to see a bird’s eye view of the entire structure of the story, and to determine how the arcs are parallel to a scientific concept, such as the Kreb Cycle, expansion of the Universe, integrals, etc.

On a micro level, I can determine what sorts of communities and personalities these characters have. For example, engineers study under the most rigorous classes and are prone to find pockets of time to have fun. Mathematicians or quantum physicists can be a philosophical bunch. In my field, astrophysicists, are the queer siblings who are into musical theatre while physicists are the emo siblings who are only comfortable with straight plays. And do not get me started on zoologists. They are wild.

How is Science Integral to the Story?

Most writers understand that writing from their own lived experiences make their stories more authentic, and science can ease this daunting approach. Personally, I layer my musicals with scientific anthropomorphization as a filter when revisiting childhood memories or social themes that are impacting my communities’ livelihoods.

When interacting with the writer, I am curious about their initial point of interest in a scientific field or subject matter.

• Are they a scientist?
• Was their friend or family member a scientist?
  • For example, visual theatre artist Eli Nixon showcased wrack zone at The Public in January 2024 and Ars Nova in May 2024. Their father was an oceanographer, so the love of oceans is personal in the performance.
• What is their inspiration?
  • Science Fantasy or Science Fiction?
  • Analog Technology or Digital Technology?
  • Star Trek versus Star Wars?

These questions help me see the takeaways that the writer is trying to lead the audience to.

Humanity is always the core of storytelling. The storyteller writing a science play should distance themself from focusing on jargon or the spectacles of “science.”

Who is Your Audience?

The target audience is important to note before diving into the story. There are levels to scientific literacy.

• What is the writer writing for or looking for engagement from?
• Is it to teach or plant curiosity, or is science simply a trait in the story?
  • Focusing on just the science, there are so many STEM-related and political themes to take away from a science play.
• Is the writer looking to engage students who are just developing curiosity? Is the play encouraging them to be more involved in STEAM (“STEAM” or “STEM”)? Is the play raising awareness and optimism in the fight against man-made climate change?
• Is the writer looking to engage science-fiction fans or science enthusiasts? Is the play going to have them question what scientific fields are receiving funding or are the funds geared toward the war industrial complex? Is the play presenting a moral implication that truly takes place in a lab or publication?
• Is the writer looking to engage scientists? Is the play unveiling their field’s pitfalls in communicating science to the public? Is the play displaying the generational unhealthy relationships they may be experiencing while chasing after that PhD?

During a talkback session of a workshop or production, I look to see what the audience took away from the human story, the scientific elements, and both.

Who Are Your Collaborators?

Coming from the STEM field, I have connections. If a writer seeks out a scientist, then I can reach out to them on their behalf. For my own sake, I have connected with many intersectional theatre artists who entered from a science or mathematics background. Knowing them helps me feel normal and like I belong.

An example of a theatre that does such science-theatre collaborations is Transforma Theatre which produced the 2022 Science in Theatre Festival at the Tank in New York City. The festival pairs dramatists with scientists. One of their featured plays, Frozen: The Egg Freezing Musical, written by Zhu Yi and Yoonmi Lee had a talkback with reproductive endocrinologist Anate Brauer.

There is a biannual Theatre About Science International Conference. This weeklong event is where hundreds of science-based theatre artists and theatrical scientists gather to share their work that intersects science and theatre. I was a 2024 presenter, where members of the Orfeon Académico de Coimbra performed my astrophysics musical, Ellipses. Here is a video clip of me getting the audience members to sing along to the time dilation equation from the introduction of this essay.

Science and Theatre Share Humanity

These intersections have the wonders of revealing unknown elements to one another. To me, science reveals in theatre the ways people problem-solve in a timed, staged thought experiment and how even their answers lead to more questions afterwards. The performing arts get scientific. Theatre reveals in science how its theories and experiments are parallel to storytelling structures that need communication and staging to engage the public of (Do you mean “disengage” or “with”?) its findings and ongoing questions. Science and math are more welcoming with theatre.

We dramaturgs hope for the audience to continue to ponder on the messages of our productions on their drive home. From the post-show car rides in the early 2000s, I still revisit how g-force pushed us at Space Camp and how the tenor singer pushed their range to G4 in Too Hot to Handel at Detroit Opera House. STEAM (?) has the power to lead young minds to “Big Bangs” like mine, when I realized that passions can all be connected to answer the Universe. The world would be at peace if the public increased their artistic and scientific literacy.

Utilize and adapt my dramaturgical techniques as you please. I hope this essay disrupts your existing practices and you discover new ways to connect all of your disciplines.

Anywho, here is “Photosynthesis” for the road!

David Quang Pham (he/they) is a musical theatre science communicator who writes science musicals and consults on stories that explore STEM. Be up to lightspeed at sciencetheatre.us and @sciencetheatre.