Art-Science Theatre Collaboration as Practice: A Qualitative Study of the Impact on Early-Career Astrophysicists

Collaborations between art and science are becoming increasingly common in academic contexts, but often lack methodological support and institutional recognition. This study examines how four early-career astrophysicists experienced their involvement in an immersive theatre production. Based on semi-structured interviews and reflexive thematic analysis, the study examines three dimensions: the roles and forms of involvement of the participants (process), the facilitating and structural conditions that shaped the collaboration (mechanism), and the outcomes that the participants associated with their involvement (outcome). Participants described a shift from traditional advisory roles to more creative and performative contributions, and reported increased self-confidence, improved communication skills, and new ways of engaging with their scientific practice. The presence of an art-science integrator was consistently cited as an important factor that supported interdisciplinary exchange, trust-building, and the crossing of disciplinary boundaries. The thematic findings are interpreted from the perspective of boundary object theory, which provides a framework for understanding how shared processes and artefacts can have different meanings in different disciplinary communities. The study highlights how art-science collaborations can serve as sites of epistemic inquiry and researcher identity formation, while also making academic structural constraints visible.