For the third time, ICTP is pleased to host a play staged by students from the Trieste secondary school "G. Corsi", under the expert guidance of the teachers Elisabetta Gustini and Silvana Aleffi.

The performance will take place in the Budinich Lecture Hall on 9 March 2016 and foresees participation of  ICTP scientists and staff together with the students, as in the previous editions.

After presenting the intriguing personalities of Nikola Tesla and Hypatia, this year's proposal will be based on a play by Karel Capek a precursor of science fiction. The Czech author, in his play "R.U.R. Rossum’s Universal Robots" (1920), is the one who introduced and made popular the word "robot" to define non-human replacements of human beings.

The subject is truly inspiring, it opens up both scientific and moral themes: like possible evolution of social relations, development of artificial intelligence, freedom from material work, and more widely the frontiers of science.

Anyone interested to actively contribute to the project is most welcome.

You can either write a text based on personal feelings/experiences, to be inserted in the script, and then read or play it on stage, or just take part by acting with the students.

Food for thoughts will be provided to those who will show their interest to participate: the original text of the play (in the English or Italian translation) and a series of questions to reflect upon.

Kindly contact us by: 13 November to express your interest.
The deadline for the written contributions, for inclusion in the script, is December 11, 2015.

Participants will be asked to take part in some rehearsal with students.

Thank you.

Zina Makkawi (zmakkawi@ictp.it)
Nicoletta Zar (zar@ictp.it)