Marionet has collaborated again this year in the organisation of the Researchers’ Night, an initiative of the European Union that happens every year (since 2005) on the fourth Friday of September and has the goal to bring scientists closer to the general public.
In 2010 the Researchers’ Night took place place on September 24th and theatre was again one of the forms of expression chosen to get scientists closer to other people. The Night had lots of activities that took place simultaneously in several European cities. In Portugal, the cities involved in this project were Porto, Coimbra, Lisboa and Olhão. For more information about the global project you can visit the site (in Portuguese only) Cientistas ao Palco.
Marionet’s participation consisted in the creation of a theatre performance about the researcher’s life in a scientific lab, which was presented in Museu da Ciência da Universidade de Coimbra, and, once again, with the special particularity of having scientists as actors. “Flies are Rats that fly” is a performance created by a group of scientific researchers along with Marionet, that puts the magnifying glass over the daily life of scientists in science world.
+INFO
Science Museum of the University of Coimbra | Coimbra
24 September 2010 | 9:30pm
Age rating | 12+
Running time | 90m
Tickets | Free entry
Playbill
This performance is a small study. Its object is the scientific society and its relationship with the general society. But it is not a sociological study, it’s a performance, an artistic study. The ones that lead the study are, at the same time, its object. It has been this group of researchers who build from scratch, this performance. The perspective with which science is seen is, therefore, that of scientists and not of someone outside the science world. It is an inside look to the inside and an inside out look.
The publication of results takes place on a stage and not in a scientific paper. This is the challenge the researchers bravely chose to face: talk about themselves through a means they don’t master. But that’s a typical characteristic of a good scientific researcher – to like challenges. In “Flies are Rats that fly” we analyse relationships between scientific colleagues, we evaluate the hierarchical chain in a research centre, we study its interaction with society during school visits, we investigate the relationships of researchers with their families and friends, we compare different approaches to science both in Portugal and abroad, we discuss individual and group values – all this under the close observation of the omnipresent characters in a blue lab coat which permanently accompany the life that pulsates in a research lab.
Discussion and Ideas Alexandre Lemos, Ângelo Tomé, Diana Rodrigues, Filipa Heitor, Henrique Silva, Inês Almeida, Inês Morte, Inês Violante, Mário Montenegro, Paula Banca, Raquel Ferreira, Teresa Girão, Tiago de Sousa Santos, Vera Francisco
Cast Ângelo Tomé, Catarina Resende de Oliveira, Diana Rodrigues, Filipa Heitor, Henrique Silva, Inês Almeida, Inês Morte, Inês Violante, Margarida Carneiro, Paula Banca, Raquel Ferreira, Teresa Girão, Tiago de Sousa Santos, Vera Francisco
Playwright Raquel Ferreira
Direction and Lighting Design Mário Montenegro
Wardrobe Joana Cardoso
Video Registry Rodrigo Lacerda
Fotografia de Cena Francisca Moreira, Rodrigo Lacerda
Executive Production Alexandre Lemos, Emanuel Botelho
Co-production Marionet | Museu da Ciência da Universidade de Coimbra
With the support of
Ministério da Cultura | DG Artes
Ilídio Design
MAFIA – Federação Cultural de Coimbra,
Rádio Universidade de Coimbra
Acknowledgement
A Escola da Noite, CNC, Projecto BUH!