Kate Atwell: Big Data

Translated from English by Ignas BEITSAS.

In a world of data, where every step we take can be recorded, preserved and analysed, do we still have the right to be forgotten? What would we sacrifice in exchange for security, control and freedom from technology?

Drawing on the play *Big Data* by British playwright Kate Attwell, director Augustas Gornatkevičius invites us to consider a modern version of the Faustian myth. Here, the pact with the devil takes a new form: mass media, the market and algorithms replace Mephistopheles, while people become not only users of technology but also raw material—as their personal data is constantly collected, analysed and sold to businesses.

At the heart of the performance is one of many families: a brother and sister, their partners and their parents. A stranger, M, gradually enters their lives, soon becoming a family friend and confidant to whom the characters can open up and turn for support and understanding. Through family relationships, especially those between parents and children, the play reveals the experiences of different generations, their difficulties understanding one another, and their attempts to preserve closeness in a rapidly changing reality shaped by digital trends.

The right to be forgotten is also central to the work: the chance to let go of the past, preserve personal space and avoid being defined forever by one’s digital footprint.

*Big Data* invites us to rethink the relationship between contemporary people and time. Data collection and algorithmic predictions are penetrating ever more deeply into personal space, relationships and memories, turning even the most intimate experiences of life into measurable, observable information. The accelerating pace of life pushes out silence, rituals and the chance simply to be. In the digital world, it is increasingly difficult to listen to ourselves and experience time not as an endless sequence of events, but as a meaningful presence with another person. Can we still stop, remember and experience the moment, rather than merely react to an unending stream of external stimuli?