Through the medium of theatre and visual arts, SettingTheStage brings together research centres, universities, an SME, a science museum and theatre groups from four major cities in Portugal, to create multiple spaces where scientists and the public can actively engage in the reality of being a scientist and in the two big scientific celebrations of 2009: the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of the telescope, and the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth. At the core of this proposal is a series of theatre performances, to be specifically produced for Researchers’ Night 2009, designed to stimulate reflection, discussion and debate on topics related to researchers and their everyday lives: the power and limits of their research, their excitements and disappointments, the decisions they face, the impact of their research in society. Emphasis will be on empowering researchers and the public to express their views to the issues being raised. Researchers and theatre performers will work together to produce several performances, aimed at different age groups. A range of interactive activities will complement the performances, including hands-on activities, ´speed-dating´with scientists and new-media installations. Researchers will be involved in all these activities: they will facilitate the interactive activities, co-author scripts, and be actors in the performances. Awareness for these events will be achieved through a concerted marketing campaign, bringing together the expertise and resources of all partners involved, including a dedicated blog, which will register the experiences of the researchers-actors. SettingTheStage brings together the largest ever number of partners in Portugal for Researchers’ Night and, thus, is ideally placed to recruit researchers across the board, to reach large audiences, from north to south and to contribute significantly to greater awareness of the reality of being a researcher in Europe.