These are some of the innovative features introduced in “Synthasia,” an experimental play this summer at Goyang. The 50-minute production combines the latest digital technology with live actors, audiences and the stage. It’s being billed as the first digital play to be shown in a theater. True or not, the play is a groundbreaking effort to introduce digital techniques to the theater, in the best-connected country on the planet. “If Nam June Paik’s video art was for the 20th century, the digital play is for the 21st century,” says director Goo Bon Cheol. “This was conceived with a digital mind.”
The orchestra pit is occupied by so-called culture engineers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, who operate machines rather than musical instruments. On the stage, partially transparent screens show projected images of the actors. Thin-film speakers hanging above the seats provide personalized sound—what you hear depends on where you sit.
The story opens in 2040. As a girl dances on the stage, several avatars dance on gossamer screens around her. Then there’s a complete breakdown of the digital network, which in the future has become ubiquitous. The girl grows disoriented and tries to reclaim her lost identity. She enlists the help of a sorcerer, who asks the audience to dial a number shown on the screen. The callers help the heroine out of her dilemma by moving puzzle pieces.
Following the plot can be a struggle. “It is not easy to fully comprehend the play,” says one theatergoer, “but this must be what plays will look like in the future.” Indeed, fun is not Goo’s top priority. “This play is for experience rather than enjoyment,” he says. Patience, it seems, will be even more critical to the theatergoers of the future.
