ArtsEmerson and the Museum of Science Present Theater Mitu’s Utopian Hotline—Part Live Performance, Part Telephone Hotline, Part Vinyl Record

Step into the cosmic conversation of Theater Mitu’s latest creation, inspired by the 1977 NASA Voyager spacecrafts’ Golden Record 

BOSTON, MA – What message would you send to the future? In 1977, NASA launched the twin Voyager spacecrafts, sending a collective message from humanity ingrained in vinyl into outer space. Both housing the Golden Record, an artifact intended to communicate who and what we are to anyone out there who might be listening, the spacecrafts have today traveled more than 13 billion miles. Inspired by NASA’s proverbial message in a bottle, now the farthest human-made object from Earth, Utopian Hotline is Theater Mitu’s latest creation, a live performance that invites you, too, to speak your message to the distant future on a public telephone hotline. Just dial 1-646-694-8050 and respond to the prompt.  

Those voicemails provide the source material for Utopian Hotline, part live theater, part telephone hotline, and part vinyl record. Running at the Museum of Science from May 1 through May 18, where it has been specifically adapted for the Charles Hayden Planetarium’s 57-foot, 360-degree dome, the most recent iteration of Theater Mitu’s experimental performance is co-presented with ArtsEmerson, in association with Octopus Theatricals. Under the immersive, full sky dome dedicated to astronomy and celestial objects, Theater Mitu is able to realize a theatrical experience that is, simultaneously, rigorously visual, aural, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual.

“Planetariums are gathering spaces for wonder—places where we sit together, enveloped by a journey that stretches our imagination and invites us to re-envision the world around us,” said Rubén Polendo, founding artistic director of Theater Mitu and director of Utopian Hotline. “It is this intrinsic quality of the Charles Hayden Planetarium that has transformed this piece. Utopian Hotline invites us to travel inside our collective imagination—to be immersed in the emotional landscapes we share.”

Drawing from real responses to the question “How do you imagine a more perfect future?,” Theater Mitu’s Utopian Hotline brings audiences together under the magic of the Planetarium dome to experience curated audio landscapes via headphones and an elaborate installation of vintage-era telephones, tape recorders, and microphones. Four performers, dressed in gray jumpsuits, lead the ceremonial listening by singing and delivering monologues precisely timed to visuals on the dome through the microphones and telephone receivers, creating a sense of intimacy and distance as they interweave personal stories through a brief history of the Golden Record and scientific mysteries. Both a soundscape and immersive performance, the cumulative effect is an inspiring communal meditation among audience members, inviting them to reimagine together our shared future and leave their own offerings of hope.  

“Utopian Hotline is a centerpiece of our 2025 ‘Being Human’ spotlight here at the Museum,” said James Monroe, creative director at the Museum of Science. “This year, we’re exploring all aspects of our humanity and what’s inside that connects us all. The arts are central to that. They offer a multichannel storytelling approach that meets people where they are and makes complex scientific topics accessible to our wider communities. Theater Mitu’s Utopian Hotline personalizes questions about our shared humanity in a way that will especially resonate with visitors, bridging the arts and sciences and revealing the interconnections between the two.”  

"Utopian Hotline is truly a collaboration for the senses—and we are honored to be co-presenting Theater Mitu's ground-breaking experimental performance with the Museum of Science," said ArtsEmerson Interim Executive Director Ronee Penoi. "We are excited for audiences to experience this moment of community—as Utopian Hotline invites us to reimagine our shared future.”  

Utopian Hotline is a cornerstone of the Museum of Science’s 2025 “Being Human” spotlight, a yearlong exploration of our interconnectivity and the ways we can all better the lives we live. This performance, record, and hotline is a collaboration produced by Theater Mitu in partnership with SETI Institute, Arizona State University’s Interplanetary Initiative, and Brooklyn Independent Middle School, and is co-presented at the Museum of Science by the Museum’s Center for Space Sciences and ArtsEmerson, in association with Octopus Theatricals.  

Utopian Hotline is showing in the Charles Hayden Planetarium from May 1 through May 18. Tickets are $25 for the public and $17.50 for members. All visitors, including members, can reserve tickets in advance either online at mos.org or by phoning 617-723-2500. 

About Theater Mitu
Driven by a commitment to innovation, Theater Mitu expands the definition of theater through methodical experimentation with the form. Founded in 1997, we are an artist-led organization that frames artmaking as a mode of research and inquiry. We share knowledge, spark dialogue, and strengthen our community through cultivating radical ways of reimagining our world. Mitu embodies this by way of our productions and exhibitions, trans-global research initiatives, artist support opportunities, education programs galvanizing the next generation of artists, and the curated programming of MITU580, our venue in Brooklyn, NY. Mitu’s founding Artistic Director Rubén Polendo and Co-Artistic Director Justin Nestor lead an interdisciplinary group of company members in building bridges across ideas, cultures, and communities. Mitu’s work has been presented at theaters, museums, contemporary arts centers, and non-traditional venues throughout the United States, South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. Theater Mitu has been awarded an OBIE for sustained excellence and innovation and nominated for best technology design by the Lucille Lortel Awards. Utopian Hotline was made possible with support from The National Endowment for the Arts, The New England Foundation for the Arts National Theater Project, The MAP Fund, The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and Trust for Mutual Understanding as well as the Café Royal Cultural Foundation, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and the US Department of State.   

About Octopus Theatricals (Producer)  
Founded by creative producer Mara Isaacs, Octopus Theatricals collaborates with artists and organizations to foster an expansive range of compelling theatrical works for local and global audiences. Current projects include: Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell (Broadway, 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical; Grammy Award, Best Musical Theater Album); Gabriel Byrne’s Walking with Ghosts (Broadway); Goddess created by Saheem Ali, Jocelyn Bioh and Michael Thurber; Bhangin’ It by Rehana Lew Mirza, MIke Lew and Sam Willlmott; Dreaming Zenzile by Somi Kakoma; (…Iphigenia), a new opera by Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding; In The Same Tongue created by choreographer Dianne McIntyre with music by Diedre Murray; The Social! Dance Club conceived by Steven Hoggett, Christine Jones & David Byrne; And So We Walked by DeLanna Studi; Theatre for One (in person and virtual) and many more. Octopus Theatricals is also home to the Producer Hub, an online resource supporting independent producers in the experimental and performing arts sectors Learn more at Octopustheatricals.com.  

About ArtsEmerson
ArtsEmerson is the professional presenting and producing organization at Emerson College, and its mission is to bring people together to experience powerful performances that delight, provoke, and inspire, celebrating both our differences and common humanity. Founded in 2010 by Robert J. Orchard—the year the US Census confirmed there was no single cultural majority in Boston—ArtsEmerson is committed to building a cultural institution that reflects the diversity of our city. Our imaginative and globe-spanning live and virtual performances, films, and conversations invite each of us to be part of a Boston that is more creative, equitable, and connected. ArtsEmerson is led by Interim Executive Director of the Office of the Arts & ArtsEmerson Director of Artistic Programming, Ronee Penoi. For more information, visit ArtsEmerson.org.  

About Emerson College  
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, opposite the historic Boston Common and in the heart of the city’s Theatre District, Emerson College educates individuals who will solve problems and change the world through engaged leadership in communication and the arts, a mission informed by liberal learning. The College has approximately 4,161 undergraduates and 554 graduate students from across the United States and nearly 70 countries. Supported by state-of-the-art facilities and a renowned faculty, students participate in more than 90 student organizations and performance groups. Emerson is known for its experiential learning programs at Emerson Los Angeles, located in Hollywood, and at its 14th-century castle, in the Netherlands. Additionally, there are opportunities to study in Washington, DC, London, China, and the Czech Republic, Spain, Austria, Greece, France, Ireland, Mexico, Cuba, England, and South Africa. The College has an active network of 51,000+ alumni who hold leadership positions in communication and the arts. For more information, visit emerson.edu.