ABSTRACT
Science. Dramaturgy. Two terms that enjoy opposite disparities in public comprehension. Everyone has a basic concept of what scientists do and what science is; almost no one has the faintest idea what dramaturgs do or what dramaturgy is. Within their discursive frameworks another complicated term emerges as a site of potential generation and complex disagreement: experimentation. Contrasting views of experimentation are a fundamental stumbling block when theatre and science meet on a collaborative field of inquiry beyond the mechanics of illustrative representation. For the theatre, experimentation implies a freedom from constraint, an engineered chaos that frequently refuses conventional narrative content and construction. Experimental theatre often exposes its mechanics to an audience. It can invoke a sense of frivolity or serious urgency but much critical and audience reception remains conflicted over the “success” of the communication. For the uninitiated, such pieces may seem intentionally and frustratingly unintelligible.
