연극 <맵핑히틀러> — Play <Mapping Hitler>
<Mapping Hitler> satirizes the dictator, but asks a more unsettling question: what if we are capable of creating one ourselves? A political satire exploring the paradox of democracy in the age of media and propaganda.
Mapping Hitler is a political satire about the emergence of new forms of power created through media and propaganda. Beginning with Hitler’s propaganda in the 1930s, the play imagines the possibility of another dictator emerging 100 years later, in 2036, in the age of YouTube and social media.
Rather than recreating historical dictatorship, the production examines the possibility of authoritarian power through today’s media environment and the workings of democracy. Projection mapping and live camera are used to visualize how media images come to occupy the human body and its desires. What begins with humor and playfulness gradually develops into a satire of collective madness and blind devotion.
Mapping Hitler was developed and premiered with the support of the Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation in 2025, and further developed and remounted with the support of the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture in 2026. Following its premiere and remount, the production drew attention for its distinctive perspective connecting historical dictatorship with the contemporary media environment, as well as for its sophisticated staging and powerful message. Major media reviews highlighted the work as one that deserves to be “chewed over” if the lessons of history alone are not enough, while also drawing attention to its provocative connection between “YouTube algorithms and Hitler.”
SYNOPSIS
In 2036, Han Deul-ho, a young man who has failed the civil service examination, becomes a YouTuber. His content quickly captures the public’s attention, and he soon rises to become a powerful influencer with 10 million subscribers.
As Deul-ho’s influence grows, his words and actions cease to belong to him alone. Supporters, media outlets that amplify his messages, and those who gather around him to build his political power gradually form a massive collective force. Drawing on his popularity, Deul-ho enters politics and eventually becomes president.
What initially appears to be the story of one man’s success gradually becomes the story of a collective. People reinforce one another’s beliefs without fully understanding what they believe in, while Deul-ho’s image slowly transforms into real political power.
As Deul-ho begins to resemble the Hitler of the past, Mapping Hitler asks: Does a dictator suddenly appear one day, or are they gradually created through the things we see, believe, and share every day?