This Show Set in Drought-Ridden 2050 Stars Real Scientists

​Art and science are often pitted as polar opposites, but an upcoming climate-themed immersive theatre show bucks the trend by starring actual scientists. It's like watching a sci-fi flick with a physicist next to you in the cinema.

Set in 2050, New ​Atlantis imagines a world where London's authorities have failed to properly manage the capital's water supply. Efforts to fix the problem bring together corporate and research interests, and the audience wanders through the show interacting not only with actors but "accidentally learning" from as many as two dozen scientists, eventually voting on one of the options to try to save London from "water austerity."

"It's a little bit like when you're watching Interstellar, and you pause it and go 'I want to know more about the thing you just said,'" said director and writer Barra Collins at the show's venue next to the Thames in London. "With this show, you can stop and go and ask a scientist."

"There are lots of science-fiction shows and TV that kind of hint at the science, and we're just going an extra step with that, creating a filmic world that the audience is a part of and in that there's scientists and engineers," added creative producer Andy Franzkowiak.

There will be 20-odd scientists and engineers taking part in each show—the number varies as "they do have day jobs"—from University College London, Pennine Water Group (the University of Sheffield's ​water research project), and the Rutherford Appleton Space Laboratory.

It wasn't difficult finding dozens of researchers and scientists to take part. Franzkowiak pins that on scientists "challenging themselves to communicate with the general public more"—something he believes academic institutions have a "responsibility" to do. "Art is a communication tool, so it gives a perfect platform for scientists to explore their work with audiences who normally wouldn't engage with it," he added.

While some of the participating scientists are nervous, there's some consolation that the work in the show is very much their own research. "It's their heads exploded into a space," Franzkowiak said. "It's their research, their fascinations, their toys, if you will."

As the water troubles are related to climate change, some of the drama might come not from the actors but from the audience presenting disputing opinions. "The scientists can go 'off script' if someone asks a question or the audience shows a particular interest," said Collins. "The scientists can go down different rabbit holes with the audience, go off on different tangents."

Alongside bringing scientists on stage, New Atlantis blurs fact and fiction with its location. It's in The Crystal, a glass edifice in view of Canary Wharf that was built by Siemens for a sustainability marketing exhibit, which handily looks at life in 2050 anyway.

New Atlantis is part of a series of multidisciplinary shows dubbed Enlightenment ​Cafe, which previously brought a ​zombie outbreak to Edinburgh. At the launch of that show, the crew faced concerns that the audience wouldn't be able to tell fact from fiction—as though the accurate scientific language and methodology would lead attendees to think zombies were real.

But while science can be seen as confusing, elitist or, in their words, "highfalutin," the main concern is that science is dull. "Which is madness," said Collins. "It gives you a whole new way to look at the world around you and the way you life your life."

"Science is a fascinating way of exploring the world, and art is a fascinating way of exploring the world," agreed Franzkowiak. "Both of those have huge amounts in common… It feels natural."