Meanwhile : Posthumanism and theater

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Meanwhile : Posthumanism and theater

Published: 25 Mar. 2026, 00:05

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Kim Myung-hwa

The author is a playwright and director.

The term “posthuman” is appearing frequently these days. With the prefix “post,” meaning “after” or “beyond,” the word refers to a condition in which humanity moves past modern human-centered thinking and enters a new phase. The concept signals a departure from anthropocentrism and invites renewed reflection on what it means to be human.

A scene from the play “The Employees” [SEOUL PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL]

I first encountered the term in the early years of the 21st century. It was through Spanish performance artist Marcel·lí Antúnez Roca’s works “Epizoo” (1994) and “Afasia” (1998). These pieces connected the performer’s body to a computer, creating a form of media art in which a mechanized body responded to sensors or synchronized with projected images. In some later presentations, including around 2003, the two works were staged in a combined format. The idea of a human body becoming a machine felt unfamiliar and even grotesque at the time.

I struggled to categorize the performance. While searching for references, I came across the term “posthuman” in a book on video art. The discovery was striking, as if it pointed to one possible direction for the future of art. What had once appeared only in specialized texts now seems to have entered everyday language, shaped by the rapid development of artificial intelligence.

Theater has also begun to reflect on the limits of human-centered modernity. An increasing number of productions explore posthuman themes. “A Village Without Electricity” presents a dystopia in which technological advancement coincides with the loss of power. “B Be Bee” attempts to move beyond anthropocentrism by focusing on bees. The Polish production “The Employees” (2020), which visited Korea last year, depicts a future in which humans and humanoids coexist aboard a spacecraft after Earth’s destruction.

These works raise a shared question: Where is humanity headed?

The earlier works “Epizoo” and “Afasia” deal with a future society while paradoxically drawing on the narrative of the Odyssey. After the Trojan War, Odysseus wandered for years before returning to Ithaca, where his family awaited him.

For posthumans, however, it remains uncertain whether such a destination exists. If humanity moves beyond itself, the idea of a return may lose any meaning.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.