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SPARC Theater’s newly announced 20th anniversary season includes two all-time classics, but it’s a brand-new script on the bill that might garner the most attention for the Livermore troupe.
As its season-opening production, the first installment of SPARC’s annual Science@Play series features theatrical readings this weekend of an untitled piece of material created by artificial intelligence – a large language model dubbed “Claude” – from structured prompts developed by Science@Play program director Michael Wayne Rice.
“Science@Play has always been about experimentation discovery, and dialogue,” said Lisa Tromovitch, SPARC Theater’s executive and artistic director. “This year’s theme explores artificial intelligence — but the purpose is not to replace human playwrights. It’s to ask big questions about creativity: What can AI do and what can it never replicate about the human imagination?”
Acknowledging that the experiment is both bold and controversial, Tromovitch thinks the “heart of the event” will be the organized conversation held after each theatrical reading to gauge audience members’ reactions.
“Theatre is human connection through and through,” Rice said. “With AI proliferation, I constantly ask myself: How long before what is human is completely unrecognizable? AI development greatly outpaces our ability to culturally assimilate the technology in an ethically responsible manner. So, what becomes of us when humanity allows itself to be consumed by AI?”
“Entangled: An AI Experiment” is set to be presented this Friday and Saturday (March 13-14) at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday (March 15) at 4 p.m. in the SPARC Studio at 2172 Railroad Ave. in downtown Livermore.
Two weeks later, the nonprofit theater company will host the second installment of 2026 Science@Play, a new play by (human) writer Cleavon Smith.
“The Moon Is Always Full” examines the innovations of brain implants enhanced by AI, and the ethical questions and potential liabilities that come with such medical and technological advancements.
“I’m diving into the emotional and ethical terrain of AI-driven medical science — especially technology implanted in the brain,” Smith said. “I’m fascinated by the promise of healing and enhancement, but also by the power structures behind it. When technology is literally inside your mind, who has agency? Who benefits? Who gets left out? Theater is the perfect space to wrestle with those questions.”
The Livermore Lab Foundation, a philanthropic partner of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, sponsored Smith’s play.
“The Foundation wanted to support ‘The Moon Is Always Full’ because its theme relates to the work we’re funding at LLNL, where researchers are applying the Lab’s unique capabilities to model the human brain and tackle neurodegenerative diseases like ALS and Parkinson’s,” LLF Executive Director Sally Allen said.
“By bringing these complex scientific concepts to the stage, we hope to build more understanding and dialogue around the potential of AI-driven medical innovation and the transformative impact it can have on human health and cognitive research,” she added.
A theatrical reading with light staging directed by Norman Gee, “The Moon Is Always Full” will be presented March 27-29 at SPARC Studio. Science@Play actors are Rice, Li-Leng Au, Sierra Bolar, Gregg Le Blanc and Will Livingston.
The meat of SPARC’s production schedule follows later into spring and summer with two theater classics.
The company is performing “The Glass Menagerie” by legendary American playwright Tennessee Williams from May 1-3 at the Bankhead Theater in downtown Livermore.
“‘The Glass Menagerie’ reminds us that memory shapes identity,” director Gary Armagnac said. “In a world moving at relentless speed, this play asks us to slow down and examine what we hold onto — and what we must release.”
Then SPARC will take on perhaps the Bard’s most famous play, “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”, for its 2026 Shakespeare in the Vineyard program in Livermore Valley wine country this July.
“Hamlet is a young person trying to find truth in a world that feels manipulated and unstable,” said Tromovitch, who will direct the play. “That struggle feels incredibly contemporary. Shakespeare reminds us that confusion, doubt, and moral courage are not new — but neither is resilience.”
“Hamlet” will be presented on the outdoor stage under the stars at Darcie Kent Vineyards from July 2-26. Additional performances are scheduled to follow indoors at the historic Village Theatre in downtown Danville later in the summer, with dates yet to be announced.
SPARC is also celebrating William Shakespeare with its annual “Shakespeare’s Birthday Bash” fundraiser, set for April 23 at 3 Steves Winery in Livermore. For more information on the 2026 season of offerings, visit sparctheater.org.
