MATHEATRE
Creative access points to science and math through the performing arts.
Show Catalog
Humans learn, remember and relate through story. Live theatre is a unique and powerful experience that fosters imagination, listening skills, abstract thinking, and empathy. We collaborate with STEM educators to ensure academic integrity in our fully realized theatrical productions that communicate science and math through the connection of human stories.
CURIE ME AWAY!
The radical story of a persistent woman who changed our understanding of the universe.
Marie Sklodowska Curie grew up in occupied Poland, where it was illegal for girls and women to pursue higher education. She is now revered as the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. Her discovery of the elements Polonium and Radium changed the world, as did her legacy as a champion for education as an act of resistance. Her partnership with Pierre Curie was as socially progressive as it was hopelessly romantic. In this award-winning musical, core chemistry concepts become lyrical metaphor in a biography of discovery.
Runtime: 60 minutes
Recommended audience: middle school, high school, college, adult
Recommended supplemental workshops:
Acting Out in Class, Sing a Song of Science, Exhilarating Experiments and Dramatic Discoveries
NIKOLA TESLA AND THE MOTHER OF INVENTION
Tesla was a brilliant inventor. She also had a son.
Electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla’s role model was an uneducated, illiterate housewife–his mother Djuka. Djuka tinkered, experimented, and invented–making a science out of the domestic sphere. This musical exploration of Djuka and her most famous invention–her son Nikola–tells the story of the magnetic push and pull of family bonds, the branching currents of freedom and choices, and balancing surprising sources of energy
Runtime: 60 minutes
Recommended audience: middle school, high school, college, adult
Recommended supplemental workshops:
Acting Out in Class, Sing a Song of Science, Exhilarating Experiments and Dramatic Discoveries, Showing Your Science
A show about math and other complicated relationships.
Émilie du Châtelet was an 18th century French mathematician and physicist who advanced mathematical understanding of the universe. Her best friend (and on-again, off-again boyfriend) was Voltaire, France’s most famous writer and poet. This fan fiction musical is an enlightening romp through principles and history of math, exploring the degrees of an integral friendship from every angle. This original production fills the shoes of our previous (and now retired) hit Calculus: The Musical! with a similar comedic aesthetic but content that is accessible to math scholars at every high school level and up.
Runtime: 60 minutes
Recommended audience: middle school, high school, college, adult
Recommended supplemental workshops:
Acting Out in Class, Sing a Song of Science
Funded in part by:
Patrick Cusick
VOYAGERS
A musical grand tour of the solar system.
In 1977, NASA launched a mission that changed humanity forever: Voyager. Two space probes were dispatched to explore the outer planets of our solar system, turning points of light into worlds more dynamic than ever imagined. The mission also carried The Golden Record–a message from the people of Earth to the distant future. This musical (infused with the danceable sounds of the 1970s and 80s) tells the far-out story of a team of scientists who made major discoveries about our solar system–and about what it means to be a human on a pale blue dot. This is a planetarium specific musical created in collaboration with Fiske Planetarium–combining stunning immersive visuals with live musical theatre!
Runtime: 90 minutes
Recommended audience: middle school, high school, college, adult
Recommended supplemental workshops:
Acting Out in Class, Sing a Song of Science, Exhilarating Experiments and Dramatic Discoveries, Showing Your Science
Ready to book, or interested in more information?
Contact us for rates and availability. Want the experience to have even more impact?
Consider a supplemental workshop!
Standard Workshops
Your Matheatre experience can resonate in the classroom long after the theatre lights go down. Our specially designed workshops directly translate theatrical skills into science communication, sharing arts-based skills to enrich vocabulary for educators and students to engage with STEM.
Acting Out in Class: Theatre as a Learning Tool
Academics focuses on the acquisition and retention of concepts, while the arts focus on empowering student voice. Blending the two helps students take charge of their education for a richer learning experience. Sadie and Ricky will share techniques from the realm of theatre—including character development, narrative structure, and comedy technique- to incorporate performing arts into lessons of any subject.
Recommended audience: Educators
Exhilarating Experiments and Dramatic Discoveries
Science is full of stories and telling them well is an art. Professional theatre artists Ricky Coates and Sadie Bowman will share arts-based tools for telling your stories with confidence, integrity, dramatic effect and emotional immediacy. Participants will learn to find the stories in scientific processes and humanize abstract science principles.
Recommended audience: Educators, museum professionals, researchers
Showing Your Science: Presentation for Non-Performers
Nikola Tesla was renowned for his electrical presentations. His peers said he would astound the crowd and then explain the science in an engaging and easily understandable manner. Especially helpful to researchers and students of science and engineering, the class will learn about structure techniques and delivery tips to make any presentation easier and more exciting to deliver.
Recommended audience: Students, researchers, educators
Sing a Song of Science: Songwriting and Parody Craft
From the classic stick-in-your-head parodies of “Calculus: The Musical!” to chemistry-packed original tunes in “Curie Me Away!” and space age disco inspired “Voyagers,” music is a powerful way to connect with learners and communicate a memorable message. Songwriter and lyricist Sadie Bowman will share some techniques to develop solid educational parodies and basics of composing original songs to make your presentations SING!
Recommended audience: Educators, museum professionals, students, anyone interested in music
In-Depth and Custom Workshops
Looking for a memorable team building exercise? Want to make discoveries about your group’s creativity? Contact us to plan an in-depth half- or full-day experience that will lead your group through the process of creating their own original mini-musical.
Have an idea or a particular curiosity that’s not covered in our standard workshop menu? We can tailor make an experience for your group.
Since 2016, Matheatre has worked with and performed for the following institutions:
Science Centre Singapore • National Taiwan Science Education Centre • Star Group China • Math Happens Foundation • Fiske Planetarium • Bradbury Science Center • National Atomic Testing Museum (part of the Smithsonian Institution) • Los Alamos Women in Science • Las Vegas Clark County Library District • Association of Science and Technology Centers • Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics • Boston Conservatory (guest speakers) • Cooperstown Graduate Program • Cincinnati Fringe Festival • 18th and Union, Seattle, WA • Lesser Known Players/Rolling Bay Hall, Bainbridge Island, WA • Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival • Carriage House Theatre, Hartford, CT • Know Theatre of Cincinnati, OH • ViSta Theatre, Fresno, CA • InFringe Festival, New Orleans • SUNY Oneonta • University of Nebraska-Omaha • University of Arizona • Phoenix College • Ursinus College • Girl Day, UT Austin • Portland State University • University of Washington-Tacoma • Oregon State University • Chandler-Gilbert Community College • Eastern Arizona College • Bellevue College • University of Southern Indiana • University of Toledo • Rhodes College • University of North Carolina-Charlotte • CsZ Theatre, Portland, OR • Rochester Community and Technical College, MN • Central Connecticut State University • Westminster College (guest speakers) • Skyline HS, Oakland, CA • Granger High School, West Valley City, UT • Lawton Chiles HS, Tallahassee, FL • Minnetonka HS, Minnetonka, MN • St. Anthony Middle School, Minneapolis, MN • Durfee High School, Fall River, MA • Germantown HS, Germantown, NY • Ryle HS, Union, KY • Kettering Fairmont HS, Kettering, OH • Lakes Community HS, Lake Villa, IL • Canton HS, Canton, IL • Park Hill South HS, Riverside, MO • Heritage HS, Littleton, CO • Monarch HS, Louisville, CO • Silver Creek HS, Longmont, CO • Sterling HS, Baytown, TX • Fossil Ridge HS, Keller, TX • Fort Worth ISD, Fort Worth, TX • Kingwood HS, Kingwood, TX • Tompkins HS, Katy, TX • Girls Preparatory School, Chattanooga, TN • Grant County HS, KY • Anderson HS, Cincinnati, OH • Archbishop McNicholas HS, Cincinnati, OH • Ursuline Academy, Cincinnati, OH • Bemidji HS, Bemidji, MN • White Bear Lake HS, White Bear Lake, MN • Plano Senior HS, Plano, TX • Tartan HS, Oakdale, MN • Metamora HS, Metamora, IL • Deerfield HS, Deerfield, IL • Plainfield HS, Plainfield, IL • Ankeny HS, Ankeny, IA • Standley Lake HS, Westminster, CO • South Grand Prairie HS, Grand Prairie, TX • Timber Creek HS, Keller, TX • Livermore HS, Livermore, CA • Keller HS, Keller, TX • Parkway West HS, Ballwin, MO • Simon Kenton HS, Independence, KY • Curtis HS, Staten Island, NY • Tift County HS, Tifton, GA • Columbus HS, Columbus, GA • Big Walnut HS, Sunbury, OH • Des Moines Central Academy, Des Moines, IA • Clayton HS, Clayton, MO • Dunlap HS, Dunlap, IL • Foster HS, Richmond, TX • Central HS, Keller, TX • Paschal HS, Fort Worth, TX • Franklin HS, El Paso, TX • Higley HS, Chandler, AZ