Abstract
This paper explores sound technology not just as an aesthetic tool but as an ethical dramaturgical choice in “Aramızdaki Mesafe” (The Distance Between Us), an autobiographical solo performance written, devised, and performed by myself. The play uses an eight-speaker system to create characters who never appear physically on stage. In scenes making up over half the piece, characters and ambient sounds are conveyed through sound design alone. Rather than a typical solo show where the actor plays every role, the performer engages in dialogue with invisible characters via speakers. This reflects a political stance on what is shown or left unseen. The paper asks how technology in theatre can serve ethical and political aims. What happens when representation relies on sound instead of a visible body? Can technology offer new ways to approach sensitive topics? The play centers on a man recalling an incident of sexual harassment. However, the female character, perpetrators, and the incident itself never materialize physically. This choice aims to avoid reproducing trauma through direct staging. How can social trauma be expressed without depicting it—and how might technology enable this? In “Aramızdaki Mesafe”, sound becomes not merely voice but an echo of memory circling an absent body. Here, sound functions as silence—a space of not speaking or being unable to speak. Separating sound from the body becomes a political gesture. The crisis of representation is reimagined as an ethical dramaturgical strategy, turning the play into a performative inquiry into what should or should not be shown.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2026 Special Focus—Modeling Life Systems: Art, Algorithms, Ecologies
KEYWORDS
Sound, Design, Technology, Representation
