Randy Weiner, New York-based playwright.[Photo provided to China Daily]

For Weiner, a theatrical experience shouldn't be limited to traditional venues. Plays can be staged at shopping malls, restaurants and outdoor locations that have some elements such as light, music and design, to make productions look attractive.

In 2013, Weiner produced Sleep No More, a hit "immersive" play that got New York talking. Later he created another piece based on the concept, Queen of Night, which was inspired by Mozart's opera The Magic Flute.

"My interest is in doing the opposite of what everybody else does," says Weiner.

He is the co-owner of The Box, a "theater nightclub" in New York and London, and The Box's sister concern, The Act, which currently has venues in Las Vegas and Dubai.

Growing up, Weiner went to theaters almost every night thanks to his father. He also fostered his other interests, including science.

"People said, 'You can't do that,' and I said, 'No, no, no, you can do that. You've just never done it before. My job as a 'theatrical scientist' is to have a hypothesis, test the hypothesis and see if it's true," he says.

Weiner, who has taught theater at Columbia University, Barnard College, New York University and Yale, encourages his students to think differently. "Art functions very well when it let you do things that you don't normally do," he says.

His wife, Diane Paulus, is an award-winning director, who is also a Harvard graduate. The couple first collaborated on The Donkey Show, a disco interpretation of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

About 15 years ago, Paulus started doing traditional theater works while Weiner turned to experiments. "We talk and we inspire each other. She reminds me of the high-quality shows besides my crazy ideas, and I show her something different in theater," says Weiner.