Friday 12th September
Join us as we host brilliant theatre performances at this years British Science Festival!
What’s on at Unity?
Antiviral roller skating!
Run time: 18.30 – 19:15
Throwback: it’s summer 2020, lockdowns are looming, you’ve bought yourself a pair of roller skates to cure your boredom…
Swoop over to see the Liverpool Roller Birds dance against an amazing, animated background and find out how antivirals are designed, in a unique collaboration with the Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Systems Biology and the Department of Infection Biology and Microbiomes (University of Liverpool).
During this performance, the skaters will reveal what coronaviruses get up to inside your cells during infection and how scientists design drugs to stop them.
Batman (aka Naomi’s death show)
Run time: 19.30 – 21.00
A girl walks down a blossom-lined street, a knife clutched in her pocket. She’s on her way to confront the man she believes killed her mother… ‘Batman (aka Naomi’s Death Show)’ is a live, choose-your-own-adventure story that also happens to be true. Come along to play ‘Death Bingo’ and ‘Serial Killer Family Fortunes’ and to sit shiva – collectively mourn – for the dead, and to immerse yourself in a world of extreme art. Ultimately you get to decide the direction the performance takes: will you choose mercy or revenge?
This is a true-crime satire, grounded in performer Naomi Westerman’s own experiences of parental death. Join her to work out whether love will save us or condemn us. The performance (60 minutes) will be followed by a panel discussion (30 minutes) exploring how the science of death can help us mourn. Writer and Performer, Noami Westerman will be joined by Kendra Roger (Table 11) and Dr Georgina Robinson (University of Durham) to discuss death, technology and communal grieving.
Please note that this event will involve discussions of death (including animal death), homelessness, and references to child abuse.
MOONFACE
Run time: 21.15 – 22.15
Shady billionaires make plans to colonise and mine the solar system, and our nearest celestial neighbour has something to say about it.
A clowning show performed by Meg Hodgson with live sound from Livvy Lynch, ‘MOONFACE’ is a funny and exuberant love letter to our rocky satellite that explores what it means to be human. Expect burlesque and drag-style numbers, testimony from survivors of human-made disasters, and movement inspired by the gravitational interactions between Earth and moon.
You’re invited to help shape the show, making decisions as both a space-race billionaire and as collaborators with MOONFACE, the clown. Created in collaboration with Ilan Kelman from the Space Health Risks Research Group (University College London). Directed by Helena Banerjee with music by Livvy Lynch and Jan Brzezinski. Made with support from UCL Culture, Camden People’s Theatre and London Mining Network.
Please note that this performance contains partial nudity, and discussions of man-made disasters and violent colonial practices. This performance contains moving lights and loud sounds.