What’s it like to watch the worst things on the internet for a living?
Record it, upload it, post it: you can put anything on the internet within just a few clicks. Most of what we see is harmless (or at worst, distasteful), but that’s because behind the scenes there are people whose job it is to trawl through content, taking down the unethical and dangerous stuff before most of us see it – unfortunately often scarring themselves in the process.
It’s the mental toll that being a content moderator has on its workforce that’s explored in Rebekah King’s play Moderation.
Directed by Ben Fleming and Ben Newman, and performed by Ellen Trevaskiss and Michael Gillett, the play follows two former social media moderators suing the company that exposed them to the darkest corners of the internet.
It’s coming to Greenwich Theatre this week bolstered by several positive reviews from its run at the recent Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
We spoke to writer Rebekah King to find out more…
Tell us about the story behind Moderation. What inspired you to delve into the world of online content moderators?
I read the account of a moderator who was planning to sue the company that had essentially made them sit and watch everything that could possibly be uploaded to the internet all day, every day.
Their working conditions were atrocious and they weren’t at all prepared or trained for how psychologically taxing that job was going to be.
My heart went out to them and I began to imagine the kind of friendship that might develop between two people stuck in that situation.
It made me think of soldiers forming strong bonds in the face of traumatic duties.
Part of your research involved interviewing people who really do moderate content for a living. What was the most shocking, or memorable, thing you learned?
I didn’t interview people directly; a lot of court cases are still ongoing and many people who have come forward have done so anonymously and in very selective ways.
I based the play on all the interviews that news outlets have done with moderators and the information about them that is publicly available.
Obviously, there are lots of horrible things that moderators have to view and remove from the websites they protect, but I think the most shocking aspect was the sheer scale of the problem and the impossibility of using humans as a shield against the dangers of the internet.
Ellen Trevaskiss and Michael Gillett in Moderation
This isn’t the first outing for the play. Where might audiences have seen it before?
Moderation won two student awards and had a small premiere in Cambridge where I’ve been doing my PhD.
After that, it won a nationwide competition which offered a fully-funded slot at the Edinburgh Fringe and so has been developed for that by a new professional company.
We were initially meant to be in Edinburgh for a week but were unexpectedly able to extend the run and move to a larger theatre for a second week.
That’s the power of getting a good review in The Scotsman!
Going back a bit, what drew you to a career as a theatremaker in the first place?
I love theatre as a medium and how special it can be to get people in a room together, sharing a live experience, in the age of YouTube and Netflix.
I’ve just handed in a PhD that looks at magic on the early modern stage so I’ve always had one foot in the scholarly and one foot in the practical side, and student theatre has been a big springboard for me.
Your previous productions are a mix of adaptations and original pieces. How do you decide what works to stage?
It has to be a good story – that’s the foundation and the thing I hope my works have in common.
The big themes and the basic rhythms of storytelling are what fascinate me most, and when I write something topical it’s almost by accident.
I don’t want my writing to sound cool and clever now and become dated or incomprehensible in ten years’ time.
Lastly, what’s next for you, work wise?
As a writer you are far less important once the script has been written and the play is on its feet.
I’m looking forward to seeing where Moderation will go next, but in the meantime, I’m finishing a script based on one of Hans Christian Andersen’s more obscure fairy tales, which will be partly set to music by a brilliant young composer for a performance at the Royal Academy of Music.
After that, who knows – wherever the next good story takes me!
Moderation is showing at Greenwich Theatre, Crooms Hill, London SE10 8ES.
October 20 & 21, 7:30pm.
Admission: £12.50/£10 concessions.
