Life in the Panopticon

Filmmaker and theater director Jang Jin brings back his 1995 work ‘Heotang'


Imagine living the life of a prisoner in this unusual jail cell.

You have no idea why you are here. No one tells you when you’ll be released, and everything you do is observed by five surveillance cameras that are placed around your ceiling.

But other than that, life is pretty comfortable. It’s almost as if living in a five-star hotel. You get high quality cuisine for all your meals, listen to Karajan, and sip on expensive wine and coffee.

Filmmaker and theater director Jang Jin (“Welcome to Dongmakgol,” “The Big Scene”) is staging his 1995 play “Heotang,” meaning “labor in vain,” for the third time.

He wrote the initial script for the 1995 show when he was 21, while serving his military duty. The 1995 and 1999 shows featured actors Jeong Jae-young and Shin Ha-gyun, who later made frequent appearances in Jang’s movies. 

Many would expect to see Jang’s well-known, quirky sense of humor in this play, as shown in his previous films such as “Someone Special” (2004) and “The Big Scene” (2005). But the show, first revealed last week for this year’s run, is anything but funny ― even though it is promoted as “Jang Jin’s satirical comedy.” Filled with violence and surveillance, the disturbing play evokes the horrors and truths of the convenient modern life.

The plot of the play develops as two male prisoners, who have been living comfortably in their unusual jail cell, greet their third member in the shared room. She turns out to be a young pregnant woman, who has lost most of her memory and suffers a minor speech disorder stemming from what seems like a severe trauma.

Unlike the two male prisoners, however, it is revealed that she used to know why she was being sent to the jail before losing her memory. Yearning for freedom and truth, one of the two male jailbirds tries to get the troubled woman’s memory back by doing a therapy-like roleplay.

The concept of the round stage, which is surrounded by surveillance cameras, CCTV screens and the audience, is an obvious homage to the Panopticon ― an invention by the 18th century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

Just like anyone living in Bentham’s invention, a circular building which allows its observer to monitor all inmates on the property without them being able to tell whether they are being monitored, the characters are unaware of the presence of the audience. The stage setting automatically turns its audience into observers of the prisoner characters. It’s a disturbing experience to be in that position, especially when the characters suffer because of brutal violence and almost become lunatics.

The stage setting also allows the audience to “observe” the characters in every angle possible. While an audience can only see the actor’s back from his seat, the CCTV screens show how he looks like from the top, right, left, and front. Jang’s obvious attempts to apply the cinematic technique to the drama are generally successful, making the theatrical experience even more stirring and powerful.

“Heotang” is a theatrical metaphor of contemporary life, where technology has allowed panoptic structures, such as CCTV, voice recognition and internet surveillance, to invisibly dominate our everyday experience. The open-ended conclusion to the show seems convincing, especially after the recent controversy over the 2008 illegal surveillance by the Prime Minister’s Office. Jang examines the real value of freedom and truth in today’s world, and whether or not they are exchangeable with a comfortable, convenient modern life.

“Heotang” runs from until Sept. 2 at Dongsung Art Center in Daehangno, Seoul. For tickets and information, call (02) 747-5885.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)