Interview: ‘Concerned Others' sheds light on addiction's silent fallout
Korean National Police Agency data for 2018-2023 showed that over 1,400 teens were investigated for drug offenses — more than triple the number from the previous year.
Additionally, a recent report from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Thursday showed that methamphetamine has been detected in wastewater from major sewage treatment plants in the country for four consecutive years.
Addiction never affects just one person. The fallout ripples outward to friends, family and caregivers — to the concerned others.
"Concerned Others" by Scotland-based Tortoise in a Nutshell blends delicate visuals and first-person testimony to explore the emotional toll of addiction, not just on those who use drugs, but their loved ones, too. The production, currently on show at The Quad in Seoul's Daehangno district until Sunday, premiered at the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe as part of the Made in Scotland showcase.
The creative team said the work was first developed in 2022 in response to Scotland's own drug crisis. The country holds one of the highest drug-related death rates in the developed world, with 1,330 drug misuse deaths recorded in 2021.
'There is also regularly a feeling that the statistics have now become part of a yearly 'shocking news' cycle, a kind of way of the public engaging with the problem only once a year for 'as little time as possible,'' said Alex Bird, co-artistic director of the play, in an interview with The Korea Herald, on Wednesday.
Wanting to do more than simply respond to headlines, the company spent six months gathering stories. They met with hundreds of people, conducting extended interviews with around 50 of them — from individuals in recovery to family members, medical professionals and outreach workers. Of the 20 hours of recorded conversations, only about 30 minutes make it into the final show, but each word carries weight.
"A real priority for us in this story was simply to pass on the live testimony we captured from everyone who wanted to speak with us,' said Bird.
In this intimate production, audiences peer into a delicate world built on a rotating table — a miniature landscape brought to life through a handheld camera, micro-projections, and an immersive soundscape.
While the central focus is drug addiction, the play expands to consider alcoholism, a socially accepted but equally destructive form of dependency in many cultures.
'Highlighting other forms of addiction was therefore just to allow people the chance to think again about the moral structure that exists around how we understand addiction,' Bird noted.
'Similar to how Korea has been described to us whilst we're here, people still use alcohol as a way to socially treat stress. The potential for this to become a big problem is obviously high, but for some reason it's viewed as more acceptable.'
Bird emphasized that 'Concerned Others' is not designed to offer solutions, but rather to create space for reflection, an emotional foothold from which to begin a conversation.
'Our one hope really is just that people have the time to consider the stories of the people whose voices you hear in the piece. We know addiction is a complicated and, for many people, deeply personal subject. But we really believe that by safely considering and imagining the topic together that we can support ourselves to find better outcomes for the millions of people who are affected.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
3 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Korean version of 'Baby Shark' wasn't plagiarized: Supreme Court
Top court says US composer's arrangement of the children's song cannot be considered an original work The South Korean iteration of "Baby Shark" cannot be considered to have violated the copyright law, the Supreme Court confirmed on Thursday, as it upheld an earlier court ruling against the US plaintiff's claim that accused the popular song of being plagiarized. The country's top court confirmed the earlier ruling in the legal proceedings launched by New York-based composer Johnny Wright — known as Johnny Only — in 2015. He claimed that the globally famous song produced by the education company Pinkfong (previously named SmartStudy) had plagiarized his 2011 version of the popular children's song. The underlying song and the characters are believed to be in the public domain, according to the New York Times, since the song has been popular among children for decades. "In case of a new song based on a preexisting one, one needs to add sufficient revision for it to be socially accepted as a new work, in order for it to be protected as a copyrighted material. ... Minor changes added to the original material cannot be considered an original creative work, and thus cannot be protected by the copyright law," the court said in its ruling. Both the works of Wright and Pinkfong Company are based on the well-known children's song, which had been arranged into different versions multiple times before. The versions of the songs can be traced back to the 20th century, often used at children's summer camps and kindergartens in the form of a sing-along. Wright released his version of the song, targeting toddlers by removing elements that could be interpreted as violent. He claimed that the Korean company's version is directly derivative of his version, but Pinkfong Company claimed that its version was an arrangement of the original song. Pinkfong Company's version of "Baby Shark" has become a global hit via YouTube since its 2016 release. It became the first YouTube video to achieve 10 billion views, and is currently the most-watched video on the platform with over 16 billion views.
Korea Herald
a day ago
- Korea Herald
Webtoon to bring Disney titles to mobile platform
Platform to host 100 Marvel, 'Star Wars' titles as shares jump 28 percent on news Webtoon Entertainment, the US-based parent company of Naver Webtoon, struck a multiyear partnership with Walt Disney Co. to bring around 100 titles from Marvel, "Star Wars" and other Disney properties to its vertical-scrolling platform, the companies announced Wednesday. The partnership will release adaptations of existing comics for smartphone viewing as well as original content developed for the mobile format. The content will appear in a dedicated section of Webtoon's English-language app, Webtoon said. "Amazing Spider-Man" debuts this month, followed by "Avengers," "Star Wars" and other titles. Users can read initial episodes for free before purchasing additional chapters with in-app coins. The deal helps fill a major content gap for the Naver Corp.-backed company as it expands beyond Asian markets. The platform boasts 155 million monthly active users globally, but has lacked superhero titles — which Disney's Marvel catalog will now deliver in earnest. The platform's demographics skew younger and more female than traditional comics readers, and its popular titles lean toward fantasy, romance and slice-of-life genres. For Disney, the partnership marks a shift from Marvel Comics' traditional distribution through comic shops and download services that cater to older fans. The entertainment giant could tap into Webtoon's younger, mobile-first user base while opening new revenue streams for its extensive back catalog. "The Disney, Marvel, 20th Century and Star Wars brands are among the most legendary, creative and successful in the industry," said Yongsoo Kim, Webtoon's chief strategy officer. "We're bringing this legendary storytelling to a new generation of mobile-native comic fans." The announcement sent Webtoon shares up 28 percent in after-hours trading Tuesday, coinciding with second-quarter earnings announced the same day. Webtoon reported revenue rose 8.5 percent to $348.3 million, while net losses narrowed to $3.9 million from $76.6 million a year earlier. The company projects third-quarter revenue between $380 million and $390 million. Webtoon Entertainment went public on Nasdaq in June 2024. The US-listed company serves as the parent of Korea's Naver Webtoon following a May 2020 restructuring, with Naver Corp. maintaining majority control. The company reported 2024 revenue of $1.35 billion with a net loss of $152.9 million. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed, but Disney's Daniel Fink, head of digital innovation, called it "one of the biggest" publishing partnerships his company has undertaken.
Korea Herald
2 days ago
- Korea Herald
Podo Museum exhibition poetically reflects on human vulnerability
SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island — Distrust, jealousy and endless desires drive us to fight and wound each other. Wars take place one after another across the globe, claiming the lives of innocent civilians. We often forget how fragile and small human beings are in the vast universe. 'We, Such Fragile Beings' at the Podo Museum on Jeju Island began with that thought. Bringing together 13 artists from around the world, the exhibition offers comfort and compassion to visitors who are grieving, whether directly or indirectly. 'While preparing for this exhibition, I reflected on how we often get caught up in the struggles and conflicts of everyday life. If we can expand the 'common denominator,' whether through religion, music or any experience that transcends our immediate concerns, we can see those daily challenges from a much broader perspective,' said Chloe Kim, executive director of Podo Museum, Friday at the museum. Seemingly a curtain with an image of countless stars and planets in the Milky Way, the installation 'Drawings on Newspaper' by Japanese artist Sumi Kanazawa consists of newspapers with densely drawn lines using soft, dark 10B pencils. Events from different times and dates are seen where the pencil has skipped over. Standing before the work, which feels meditative, one may realize just how many things are concurrently going in this vast universe. Lebanese artist Annabel Daou's scroll-like work unfurls from the gallery wall and spills out onto the floor, beginning with the phrase from the American Declaration of Independence from which it takes its name, 'When in the Course of Human Events.' Unlike the declaration's urgent call to action, the hundreds of sentences written in white correction fluid on black microfiber by ordinary people continue with phrases emphasizing needs, hopes and desires 'to breathe deeply,' 'to reach out' and 'to hold back tears.' 'It was in 2019 that I began working on it at a time when there were protests all across the world. I had this kind of sense that this was the moment, a pivotal moment. "I started asking people to complete the sentence, and what was really interesting to me is that it was the sense of excitement — the possibility of rewriting or adapting the form of this US document that was written by wealthy white men and to put it in the voice of people across the world,' the New York-based artist said. A white hallway of the museum is filled floor to ceiling with 560 white clocks, the sound of their ticking like falling rain. Each clock has a name, a job and a country. The installation by Korean artist Lee Wan shows each clock is ticking at a different speed. "There is a formula for calculating the speed of the clocks. By entering data from the people I interviewed, such as their income, the cost of living in their country and how much they pay for a single meal, I was able to determine the pace of time for each person. 'However, this pace does not represent an eternal speed. The speed of time for everyone represented in the clocks will continue to flow as it does at this very moment,' he said. Outside the museum is an installation by Robert Montgomery where light-emitting diode bulbs create the sentence: 'Love is the revolutionary energy that annihilates the shadows and collapses this distance between us.' The exhibition runs to Aug. 8, 2026 at the museum owned by SK Group.
