MACH 33: The Festival of New Science-Driven Plays
This year the MACH 33 Festival will take place on May 2-3, and will feature two play readings and a symposium. The full schedule will be announced soon.
We are thrilled to announce the plays chosen for this year's program!
The MACH 33 Festival play is Crisis Goalie by Tom Lavagnino.
The Launchpad play is The Null Test by Ashley Quach.
MACH 33 energizes the conversations about scientific, mathematical, and technological questions by staging readings of new, unpublished, unproduced plays. Festival playwrights have the unique opportunity to work with science advisors from Caltech and JPL – so we focus on plays that could benefit from this science mentorship. The readings are open to the public and present a discussion with Caltech/JPL scientific panelists after the show. Our casts and crews feature professional actors and directors as well as students and members of the Caltech/JPL community.
Since 2013, MACH 33 has helped develop exciting new plays such as The New Galileos by Amy Berryman, Socially Unacceptable by Matt Steinberg, The Sunrise From the Moon by Hannah Manikowski, Another Revolution by Jacqueline Bircher, Two Degrees by Tira Palmquist, Theory of Nothing by Lolly Ward, The Chisera by Paula Cizmar, Out of Orbit by Jennifer Maisel, Out There Right Here by Anna Nicholas, Planet Between the Stars by Hillary Bhaskaran, The Last Flight of the Mercenary by Karen Howes, and Tesla by Dan Duling.
Launchpad, the new early-development play lab seeks to spark creative exchange between playwrights and scientists, serving as a laboratory for new plays focused on scientific, mathematical, and/or technological themes. Operating under the auspices of MACH 33, the new Launchpad initiative is aimed at works-in-progress in the earlier stages of the script writing process. Through this program, playwrights will also have the unique opportunity to work with science advisors from Caltech and JPL to develop their plays.
In addition to science-based plays, since 2007 Caltech Theater has helped develop plays such as God Particle Complex by Chris Bell and Josh Zeller, Mate by Lolly Ward, The Washing of the Water by Marcus Renner, and the trilogy of plays by George Morgan: Rocket Girl, Pasadena Babalon, and Capture the Sun.
Read here about Caltech Theater's 2023 production of Another Revolution in Italy.
Brian Brophy, director of Theater Arts at Caltech, is the Artistic Director of MACH 33. Arden Thomas serves as the Associate Artistic Director. Cole Remmen serves as Program Director for Launchpad.
