Parasite Street Science

Abstract

In 2019, Professor Annette MacLeod's Group along with colleagues from the School of Life Sciences began working with Surge, a Scotland-based organisation that develops street arts, circus and physical theatre. The aim of this collaboration is to explore the use of street theatre in engaging new audiences with our research. In this case, the MacLeod Group's work on African sleeping sickness. Members of the Macleod Group and undergraduate and postgraduate students from the School of Life Sciences worked with theatre professionals from Surge to create a performance that was premiered at the Merchant City Festival / Surge Festival in Glasgow in July 2021. Surge have spent some time in the lab with the Macleod Group, and researchers have taken part in several creative workshops to develop the piece. Early in 2020, the collaboration received a grant from the Microbiology Society to support the project.