Seoul theater troupe’s ‘Big Mother’ explores algorithm-driven power in the data age

Lee Jun-woo, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Theatre Company, speaks during a roundtable interview on March 12 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul. [Photo=Sejong Center for the Performing Arts]

"With a mother-like warmth, it uses our information to change and manipulate what we think."

Lee Jun-woo, who leads the Seoul Metropolitan Theatre Company, said at a news conference on March 12 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts that the play "Big Mother" looks at a kind of power different from "Big Brother," the symbol of coercive control.

The company’s first production of the year, "Big Mother," asks in an era dominated by algorithms, "What is truth?" Centered on the struggle of New York investigative reporters trying to expose a conspiracy by a massive power, it portrays how unseen information can function as power in today’s big-data age.

Lee said he wanted audiences to reconsider how they slip into comfort and familiarity and follow algorithms, adding that the work is "humorous and light rather than serious."

Poster for the play ‘Big Mother.’ [Photo=Sejong Center for the Performing Arts]

The play draws audiences in with familiar-seeming characters and settings, but does not stay there. "It gets the audience to follow scenes without thinking, then leaves a bitter aftertaste at the end," Lee said. He compared it to reality: people keep watching videos guided by algorithms until they reach a moment when their thinking becomes polarized.

A French original staged in a small theater used projection, but the production at Sejong Center’s M Theater will make heavier use of video to fit the larger venue. Lee said audiences will be able to watch both the images on the onstage screen and how those images are created, calling that the biggest difference from the French version.

He said he hopes audiences enjoy "Big Mother" the way they watch a Netflix drama.

"My goal is for audiences to follow each of the four reporters’ stories easily and with interest," Lee said. He added that he wants the media environment around the story — including news, breaking alerts, and relationships between political parties and companies — to feel realistic.

The show runs from March 30 to April 25.

From left, Lee Jun-woo, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Theatre Company, and actors Yoo Seong-ju, Choi Nara and Jo Han-cheol pose during a roundtable interview for ‘Big Mother’ on March 12 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul. [Photo=Sejong Center for the Performing Arts]

* This article has been translated by AI.

Yoon Juhye