Evening Standard
“... an uplifting, thought-provoking and frequently hilarious
alternative to the usual theatre fair.”
What’s On
"This is quite an astounding show...don't fear the men in white coats, this is an entertaining hour for even the most scientifically illiterate."
Chortle
“the spirit of Houdini lives on”
The Times
In 2002, Prof Wiseman and Dr Simon Singh created and performed ‘The Theatre of Science’ at The Soho Theatre in London. This show aimed to turn back the clock to a time when audiences attended the theatre to see scientific demonstrations as entertainment, and involved a heady mixture of probability theory, psychology and comedy.
In 2005, the duo staged a second, more elaborate, Theatre of Science
show at the Soho Theatre. The climax to this show involved generating
six foot long bolts of lightning between two specially constructed
transformer coils, with one of the performers entering a coffin-shaped
cage and absorbing the full force of the strikes. Live music was provided
by sonic artists Sarah Angliss and Stephen Wolff, who demonstrated
the singing saw and other acoustic curiosities. In addition, contortionist
Delia Du Sol performed seemingly impossible back bends to demonstrate
the wonders of human anatomy.
Prof Wiseman and Simon Singh travelled to New York in November 2006
to perform Theatre of Science off-Broadway, as part of the art+science
festival.
Click here to download
an article from Skeptical Inquirer, charting the history and background
of this project.
External resources
Website of sonic artist Sarah Angliss
Contortionist Delia Du Sol’s website
Review of Theatre of Science in The Times
Sunday Times feature on Theatre of Science and science education
The electricity finale used in Theatre of Science is produced by a company called HVFX. Learn more about them here.
Simon Singh's web pages on Theatre of Science