Translating Social Agendas into the Arts : Revisiting Performing Arts Production Processes via Actor-Network Theory

In recent years, the performing arts field has witnessed growing efforts to actively incorporate social agendas—such as the climate crisis and gender issues—into creative works. These efforts are influencing not only artistic production methods but also the operational structures of public arts organizations. In particular, creation methods that demand long-term research and experimentation require new institutional responses. This study analyzes how public arts organizations integrate social agendas into artistic creation processes and how such integration transforms their systems, focusing on the case of the Climate Crisis theme within the National Theater Company of Korea’s play development program “Co-Creation in Process: Directing.” This study applies Actor-Network Theory (ANT), mobilizing Callon’s four moments of translation, to trace how the climate agenda—as a non-human actor positioned as an Obligatory Passage Point—reconfigured relations among artists, administrators, rules, budgets, and physical infrastructure. Furthermore, the transformation influenced not only the production of performances but also the organization’s strategic direction and management system. The analysis confirms that the presence of a social agenda reconstructed both the creative practices and internal systems of the public arts organization. It also suggests that Actor-Network Theory offers a valid theoretical framework for understanding changes in artistic creation processes.