The laboratory will allow artists and directors to experiment with such unconventional tools as AI, wearable devices, neural interfaces, and robots, as well as learn to use them for the stage.
“Science theater is yet a new phenomenon in Russia and the world; so far, it has no established artistic language nor expressive devices. That’s why Anastasiya Bryuhanova, a curator of the Alexandrinsky Theatre’s New Media Laboratory, and I have chosen to start an open and meaningful conversation about it now. Our goal is to provide a platform for cross-disciplinary interaction where stage directors can work with artists involved in new media and science art. Today, science theater often remains neglected and interactions between the theater and artistic communities occur only in a fragmented fashion,” notes Khristina Ots, the project’s curator and the curator of ITMO’s Art & Science Center.
The Caring Robots exhibition. Photo by Dmitry Grigoryev / ITMO NEWS
During the first stage, participants will attend a series of introductory lectures before beginning to work on their plays with the project’s curators, practicing artists and directors, who will help them turn their ideas into design sketches and if necessary find consultants from scientific and theater communities. The course will be delivered online from June to July 2025. You can find the program’s content on the theater’s official website (only in Russian). A list of the course’s lecturers will be published soon as well; these will include representatives of the theater community, philosophers, AI and neurotechnology researchers, and theater industry experts.
The program will conclude with an open pitch, during which participants will present their projects to an expert board of theater and museum heads, as well as curators and authors of the top art & science initiatives in St. Petersburg. The best works will advance to the second round, where the contestants will continue to develop their plays.
Finalists will get the chance to present their performances at the Alexandrinsky Theatre or ITMO’s Art & Science Center. The final presentation will take place in December. The best plays will be included in the theater’s repertoire or used as an inspiration for the theater’s permanent directors.
The program welcomes theater directors and interdisciplinary artists – both individually or as part of a team – under the age of 40. You can apply for the course by sending an email with your personal information, CV, portfolio, letter of motivation, and project idea to futurelab@alexandrinsky.ru.
