Interviews

Five Reasons to See … The Enlightenment Cafe

The Old Vic
Tunnels are home to The Enlightenment Café until
3 June. Here the festival’s producers give us five reasons not to
miss it.

A mashup of science and theatre
See theatre and science collide in a brand new immersive setting
that’s sure to fire up the imagination. The Enlightenment
Café
will delve into topics ranging from astronomy to
paleontology, from My Little Pony to zombies and from art to
invention. Only the tedious will be off limits.

Time travel
It’s a chance to step back in time for a drink, dance and speed
debate – whatever takes your fancy. Enlightenment cafés
originated in the coffee houses of the 17th century; also
known as ‘penny universities’, they were ‘theatres of exchange’
and social hubs for new thinking in science, philosophy, politics and
arts – places where ideas came together and bubbled with
excitement.

Science … but not as we know it
At The Enlightenment Café you can do the
rounds at a Victorian psychiatric clinic, be schooled in the science
of dating etiquette or meet a man in an opium den who knows all about
the Titanic Solar Storm of the 19th century.

Make new friends
Meet fellow aesthetes, geeks, bon-viveurs and enquiring minds.
There will be fire scientists, neuroscientists, microbiologists and
botanists. The Enlightenment Café is a place of exploration where
people from all walks of life can debate, play and laugh the night
away.

Unique setting
Come to The Enlightenment Café for a night of
science and entertainment in a wholly unique setting. You will
interact with characters, scientists and maybe, between drinks, learn
a little something new.