With most people working from home, it seems like the digital world is the new normal for many for the time being.
Matt Steinberg’s “Socially Unacceptable,” a new play from Theatre Arts at Caltech, explores this new normal, the growing conflicts between big tech and health, and the cost at which the digital world looks the way it does.
Starting on Thursday, Jan. 21, Caltech will premiere this play virtually for three days, ending on Saturday, Jan. 23. The three performances begin at 5 p.m.
“Socially Unacceptable” is directed by Caltech’s Brian Brophy and follows three Facebook content moderators who are hired to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Feeling lucky to have jobs, these new employees spend their days in a virtual world, Zoom conferencing with teammates for full workdays. As they screen the site’s most violent and offensive posts, these content moderators begin to deal with the dangerous psychological effects of the job, and their lives become increasingly interconnected both onscreen and off.
In “Socially Unacceptable,” Steinberg shows the audience five characters: the idealistic dreamer, the ambitious recruit, the easy-going confidant, the frustrated expert, and the manager just trying to hold it all together. Together they face the worst the internet has to offer – that which is completely “socially unacceptable.”
The production features an all-undergraduate cast.
Tickets are $5 for Caltech students, $10 for JPL and Caltech employees, and $20 for everyone else.
For tickets, visit http://events.caltech.edu/series/students/socially-unacceptable.
