Roadkill in the Theatre

Animals without names—left unnamed by the writer on purpose—appear in the play.

Pigeons burned to death in the Seoul Olympic torch relay in 1988,

a stray Russian dog launched into space,

a water deer hit by a car,

birds killed after crashing into transparent windows,

and other animals that do not even make it into the synopsis.

It is a play in which humans imagine and speak the words of animals—

animals killed in reality,

and whose deaths are used in art.

This performance explores the ethics of representing animals, ironically examining how humans appropriate animal suffering as their own and consume it as art—through its ‘animal-characters.’ An experimental and provocative work, it challenges the ethics of representation. Also this performance also offers a reflection on sensing, empathizing with, and thinking about the suffering of the Other.