MACH 33: The Caltech Festival of New Science-Driven Plays

MACH 33: The Caltech Festival of New Science-Driven Plays returns for its 13th year with two provocative new works exploring the frontiers of artificial intelligence. In The Null Test by Ashley Quach, a fatal crash involving an AI-powered vehicle leads to a courtroom reckoning over algorithmic intent. In The Dementia Doula by Tom Lavagnino, a family faces difficult choices when a lifelike caregiving robot enters the picture. Each staged reading is followed by a public discussion with science advisors—an invitation to think critically and collaboratively about the future we're shaping. The festival also features Storytelling for the Future, an interdisciplinary symposium on AI, ethics, and playwriting, bringing together artists and Caltech/JPL scientists for a lively conversation about creativity and responsibility in an age of accelerating technology.

Schedule:
The Null Test – Friday, May 2 at 7pm
Storytelling for the Future: A Symposium on AI, Ethics, and Playwriting – Saturday, May 3 from 3–5pm
The Dementia Doula – Saturday, May 3 at 7pm

All events take place in Frautschi Hall (2nd Floor), Hameetman Center, Caltech.

No reservations necessary. Suggested donation: $10

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Synopsis:
When a tech executive dies in a self-driving company car, the engineer who designed the car's AI program is arrested for her murder. In the tense courtroom showdown that follows, legal precedent collides with moral ambiguity and algorithmic intent.

Cast/Crew:
GLORIA CHUNG/REB CHUNG: Julia Cho
PRESTON LANG, CEO of MANOS: David Kepner
MAXIM REUSS: Max Gorbachev
KEN SEXTON: Christopher Girt 
KANSAS ZUCKERMAN: Rémy Morgan
JUDGE O'CONNOR: Zachary Abbott
GREEK CHORUS: Anya Janowski
STAGE MANAGER: Jolie Jones

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Panel Participants:
Ashley Quach – Playwright, The Null Test
Frederick Eberhardt – Professor of Philosophy, Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences; science advisor, The Null Test
Joel Burdick – Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering, Division of Engineering and Applied Science; JPL Research Scientist; science advisor, Dementia Doula
Solvin Sigurdson – Caltech Graduate Student (Control and Dynamical Systems), Division of Engineering and Applied Science; science advisor, Dementia Doula
Tom Lavagnino – Playwright, Dementia Doula
Travis Cloyd (Moderator) – Global Futurist; Professor at Arizona State University; CEO of Worldwide XR

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Synopsis:
In this deeply personal family drama, the arrival of a lifelike AI caregiver forces difficult questions about autonomy, memory, and trust.

Cast/Crew:
CARL: Scott Harris
DIANE: Laura Gardner
JOANIE: Asmat Kaur Taunque
PEG: Dana Schwartz
STAGE DIRECTIONS: Jane Bucker
STAGE MANAGER: Maria Azcona Baez

Parking available in ramp at 370 S Holliston Ave. See below for map showing walking route from ramp to Hameetman Center (Red Door).

Questions? Contact Brian Brophy, Director of Theater at Caltech, brophy@caltech.edu

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.