MTM is an allegory about the manipulation of information carried out by major political, economic and social forces through the mass media. MTM aspires to reproduce the news process, which is modified based on specific objectives. Here the truth appears as the result of the thousand different ways of relating an event or transmitting an idea. In order to achieve this goal, the show creates a web of fake images, fictions that the audience confuses with reality.

The scenography is neutral, constructed from two mirror walls on the sides, a front wall dedicated exclusively to projections and hundreds of cardboard boxes that allow the actors to construct and deconstruct a constantly transforming stage. We must emphasize the importance of images in MTM. The images that were pre-recorded, projected and recorded live through the course of the performance are interwoven and immerse the spectator in a huge lie. They are endowed with an expressive content which is almost like a plot. The images and their treatment compose MTM’s skeleton, to the point where the acting constantly interacts with the video, the projections and the mirror play created by the set.

MTM stems from the great classic motif Magno Theatrum Mundi and the allegorical religious play El Gran Teatro del Mundo by Calderón in order to call into question the role of the individual in a society which is more and more linked to manipulation and lies. The world’s drama: subjective reality, objective morality. Life understood as a theatrical representation we enter at birth and leave when we die. A large theatre in which each character perceives things depending on the filters they use. MTM is able to be manipulated in order to offer a thousand and one readings: Me Te Me, Mundo Teatral Muerto, Mañana Temprano Madrugaré, MiToMano, Mary Tells Me, Marionetas Totalmente Manipuladas, Menja Tinya Malparit, Más Trabajo Ministros, Mata Tranquilo Marine, Millionaires Troubled Monarchs, Mantened Televisores Mudos, Miserable Teatro Mundial, Mein Traumm Mann, Mejor Todos Muertos…

MTM is the first step towards a new theatrical concept, tied to technology and communication, that La Fura dels Baus named “digital theatre” and which even now continues to evolve and develop.

Creación y dirección
La Fura dels Baus (Jordi Arús, «Hansel» Cereza, Miki Espuma, Pep Gatell, Jürgen Müller, Àlex Ollé, Carlos Padrissa, Pera Tantiña).

Coordinación artística
Carlos Padrissa

Coordinación de actores
Pep Gatell

Coordinación audiovisual
Àlex Ollé

Coordinación guión
Pera Tantiña, Miki Espuma.

Proyecto musical
Miki Espuma, Carlos Padrissa, Big Toxic.

Escenografía
Carlos Padrissa

Asistencia actoral
Jordi Arús

Colaboradores artísticos
Asistente dirección de actores: Ramón Simó.
Preparación dinámica: Daniel Aschwanden.
Imagen: Emmanuel Carlier (foto y vídeo), Mark Neale, Grant Lee, Jerry Chater (vídeo), Jordi Casinos (diseño técnico vídeo),
Juanra Canosa (Harry).
Realización escenográfica: Roland Olbeter, Apolo Parkinson.
Textos: Albert Mestres.
Diseño iluminación: Tomàs Pladevall,
Ramón Rey, Llorenç Vendrell.
Diseño sonido: Marc Sardà.

Colaboración MTM versión 2.0
Marcel.lí Antúnez

Actores
Joana Barcia, Juan Carrasco, Mia Esteve, Vanessa Dinger, Carles J. Fígols, Gerardo García, Pedro González, Domènec de Guzmán, Víctor Goñi, «Hansel» Cereza, Xavier Juan Torres, Miguel Lôco, Carlos Martínez, Jürgen Müller, Juan Navarro, Antònio M. Sobral Gonçalves, Ramón Tarés, Semolina Tomic, Soles Velázquez, Rafael Vives.

Músicos
Miki Espuma, Big Toxic.

Staff técnico
Coordinación: «Hansel» Cereza, Susana Jové.
Road manager: Belén Castres.
Regidor: Miquel Isern.
Técnico imagen: Óscar Gómez.
Técnico sonido: Jordi Fatjó.
Ayudante sonido: Alberto Pastor.
Técnico iluminación: Llorenç Vendrell, Pedro Pablo Hervás.
Ayudante iluminación: Ziggy Durand.
Técnico escenografía: Apolo Parkinson.
Técnico montaje: Pere Ferrer.
Figuración: Pere Ferrer.
Diseño de producción: Ramón Vidal.
Producción: Marta Pérez Porro.
Ayudante de producción: Susana Cuñado.
Relación con sponsors: Nadala Fernández.

Estreno
10/3/94, en el Armazem 22, Lisboa.

Representaciones
198

Un espectáculo producido por Lisboa’94 Capital Europea de la Cultura, La Fura dels Baus y Ajuntament de L’Hospitalet; con la colaboración de Ruhrfestpiele Recklinghausen Europäisches Festival, Fira de Barcelona, Steenfestival 1994 (Amberes), Tempodrom (Berlín).

MTM didn’t just talk about manipulation, it put it into practice. Starting from an apparently neutral stage setting, La Fura constructed an allegory of the manipulation exerted on private citizens by the powers that be.