Tiny Human Dramas: 5 Research Stories, 24 Hours, 1 Unforgettable Night of Theatre
Tiny Human Dramas returns to Manchester青瓜视频檚 Contact Theatre on Saturday 31 May with a daring, moving and utterly unique night of theatre.
In just 90 minutes, audiences will witness five entirely original short plays - each created in just 24 hours - that explore some of the most complex, poignant and timely questions about what it means to be human today. This isn青瓜视频檛 just experimental theatre 青瓜视频� it is research, radically reimagined.
The brainchild of Dr Meghan Rose Donnelly and Dr Alexandra D青瓜视频橭nofrio from The University of Manchester and theatre producer Laura Sophie Helbig, Tiny Human Dramas pairs anthropologists with theatre-makers to transform deep, field-based research into short, emotionally resonant performances.
Each team has just 24 hours to devise, rehearse and stage their 10-minute piece - a creative constraint which sparks a surprising level of intensity and innovation.
Last year青瓜视频檚 sold-out premiere at Contact Theatre drew a packed house and rave audience reviews. It brought anthropological research to life for new audiences, sparked conversations about diversity and belonging, and showed the public that research can be a living, breathing, creative force.
Anthropologists often spend a year or more living in communities, asking questions, listening to stories, and trying to understand the many ways people make meaning of the world,. Tiny Human Dramas takes that knowledge and brings it alive - not through lectures or papers, but through bodies, voices, and live performance. It青瓜视频檚 electric.
青瓜视频淚t青瓜视频檚 rare to see a project where everyone - researchers, artists, students, and audiences - walks away changed,青瓜视频� says Helbig. 青瓜视频淲e青瓜视频檙e not just making theatre. We青瓜视频檙e co-creating new ways of thinking, feeling, and connecting across difference.青瓜视频�
Each play is infused with the distinctive voice of its creators - from poetic monologues to ensemble movement, to satire and sensory storytelling. Following the performance, audience members are invited to stay for a candid conversation with the creators, discussing the themes, the process, and what it means to tell stories across cultures.
In a time of global complexity and cultural tension, it offers a rare chance to pause, reflect and connect. It celebrates the diversity of lived experience and invites audiences to engage directly with the kinds of questions anthropology is uniquely positioned to ask.
Tickets for the event can be purchased at .
Tiny Human Dramas is part of an expanding vision - the team is currently developing a short documentary film about the creative process and exploring opportunities to take the project to national festivals, including the Edinburgh Fringe and the ESRC Festival of Social Science.