When the theatre sets about making sense of the algorithmic age, the talk inevitably turns to the balance between tradition and experiment

When the theatre sets about making sense of the algorithmic age, the talk inevitably turns to the balance between tradition and experiment. The project “Neurotheatre: A Rehearsal for the Future”, whose launch was announced on 7 September at the opening of the Theatre of Nations season, is conceived not as a tribute to digital fashion but as an attempt to discern living human nature behind technological transformation.

Vladislav Kreynin, Senior Vice President and Director of the Marketing and Communications Department at Sber, noted that the project continues the historical tradition of the stage: to master the media of its own age and to help people feel important social shifts through a vivid statement. The initiative, timed to coincide with the 185th anniversary of Sber and the 20th anniversary of the Theatre of Nations, has been created so that artists and engineers may seek answers together.

Russia’s first interdisciplinary laboratory will bring together 30 residents, from playwrights and directors to composers and media artists. Applications with ideas for productions about AI, or using it in the process of creation, are accepted until 11 October. At the intensive itself, participants will work with experts in machine learning and culture, master GigaChat and shape concepts for future productions (residents from other cities will have their travel and accommodation paid).

The ten projects developed will be drawn into the orbit of the showcase “Neuro-Night” in January 2027, while the final foresight session for directors and artistic directors of regional theatres will help them reflect on how the country’s stage landscape is changing.

The curators of the project are the director Yury Kvyatkovsky and the playwright Mikhail Degtyaryov.