Upstaged - MMP2

The clock in Upstaged is a fantastical art piece, created by an artisan, showcasing the repeating cycle of capitalism and a puppet, trying to escape it. The clock, a metaphor for society, is sectioned into three main theatre stages, representing the three societal classes, lower, middle, and upper class.

The protagonist, Mori, is the representation of the sold dream of climbing the societal latter through hard work. With each climbed stage, the red threads that control this cycle become more apparent to them. With Mori arriving at the peak of the clock, they can finally see the puppeteer, the embodiment of control over this clock.

During their coronation, Mori tries to free themselves from the threads that hold them in the system, but just before they can do it, the clock strikes twelve. A new day begins, and so does the cycle of oppression and strive to break out of it.

Upstaged leans heavily into metaphors, references, abstract symbolism and takes a lot of inspirations from different time periods.

With the clock representing the never ending cycle of a classist society, one cycle represents the life of a single person. The red threads are a reference to the red thread of destiny, and the three sisters of fate from greek mythology by extent. Mori tries cutting that thread in the last scene, effectively ending their own life. This can be interpreted either as knowingly ending their own life trying to escape the cycle, or trying to break out of the cycle, only to lose their life at the attempt of defying the system.

The ruler, the puppeteer, is depicted as a spider, spinning their web to trap its prey. The puppeteer is an ohmage to the greek goddess Arachne.