Upintheair Theatre stages sci-fi and experimental theatre festival at What Lab October 21–23
The Array: Supermassive Black Hole features four brand-new works inspired by a discovery that challenges what we thought we knew about the universe.
The day's top stories, food & events — every morning at 7. Unsubscribe anytime.
Upintheair Theatre returns with the sixth edition of The Array, a festival pairing emerging artists with scientific discoveries that challenge our understanding of the world. This year's theme: a supermassive black hole found by astrophysicist Roberto Maiolino and colleagues—one weighing 50 million suns with no parent galaxy in sight, upending the previous model that black holes form when a galaxy's stars collapse.
Four brand-new pieces will respond to that discovery across October 21 to 23 at What Lab. Featured performers include Jarin Schexnider; danielle Mackenzie Long and Shion Skye Carter; Loreto Andrea and Regina Ríos of Plastik Theatriks; and Jesse Del Fierro, Jessica Hood, David Mott, and Sarah Roa of Upintheair Theatre. The creative team includes producers Mott and Hood, curators Mott and Schexnider, technical director Ash Shotton, stage manager Kayleigh Sandomirsky, and lighting designer Alexandra Caprara.
Each performance treats artists as telescopes—instruments trained on a single phenomenon to reveal dimensions no single perspective alone could capture. The Array concept, borrowed from astronomy, lets multiple artists focus their distinct voices on one shared scientific question.
Previous editions explored negative time in the quantum world (Less Than Zero, 2025), an exquisitely sensitive machine (2023), knowledge beyond human understanding (2022), first contact scenarios (a pandemic-era online presentation in 2020), and the shape of the galaxy (2019 at The Greenhouse).
Performances run at 7:30 p.m. nightly, with a post-show artist talkback on October 22. Tickets are available through Upintheair Theatre.
The details
When does The Array: Supermassive Black Hole run?
The festival runs October 21–23, 2026 at What Lab, with performances at 7:30 p.m. each night.
What is the scientific discovery behind this year's festival?
A supermassive black hole discovered by astrophysicist Roberto Maiolino and colleagues weighs 50 million suns and has no parent galaxy, challenging the previous model of how black holes form.
Who are the featured performers?
Jarin Schexnider; danielle Mackenzie Long and Shion Skye Carter; Loreto Andrea and Regina Ríos of Plastik Theatriks; and Jesse Del Fierro, Jessica Hood, David Mott, and Sarah Roa of Upintheair Theatre will perform four brand-new pieces.
Is there a talkback with artists?
Yes, a post-show artist talkback takes place on October 22, 2026.
