The Tragedy of Zeke Muckerberg

The opening scene finds us in a modern-day tragedy about a man who had everything: power, money, family, fame. But others saw him differently: blind to detractors’ complaints, dismissive, self-aggrandizing, and aggressive pursuit of profit. The scene is from The Tragedy of Zeke Muckerberg, a play written, directed, and produced by Acting 3 & 4 students.

“We study Greek Theater and Classical Tragedy in this class, and after students learn about these forms of theater, they write a modern-day tragedy implementing all the Aristotelian rules for Tragedy. We usually base the play on something happening in the news right now. In this case, they started writing last fall and chose Mark Zuckerberg and the issues Facebook has experienced in the last few years,” explained Carolyn Hood, Upper School Performing Arts Teacher.

The Aristotelian rules for Tragedy boil down to six parts: Plot, Characters, Diction, Thought, Spectacle, and Melody. Aristotle once stated, “Most important of all is the structure of the incidents. For tragedy is an imitation not of men but of an action and of life, and life consists in action, and its end is a mode of action, not a quality.”

The Tragedy of Zeke Muckerberg finds Zeke at the center of controversy. He is a husband and father, and his daughter is desperate to connect with him, even asking if she can get her own Facebook account. Zeke dismisses her as his thoughts are consumed with work. What fuels his focus is the chorus of supporters singing the praises of a tiny little app that brings families, friends, and the world together to share opinions and “likes.” However, Zeke suddenly finds himself at the center of a class-action suit for illegally harvesting data. Then in the courtroom, arguments over terms of service and user agreements end up postponing the trial. The news gets out about what happens behind the scenes at Facebook, and the chorus begins to splinter in a less unified voice. Zeke rebuffs his legal team’s pleas to make a humble statement or even a Facebook post and forges on in the pursuit of Facebook’s greatness. Finally, he faces the most significant reckoning: his daughter dies by suicide. Viral reactions ensue, and the FBI charges in to arrest him for his illegal activities. Zeke is done; the chorus logs off and deletes the app.

Hood notes, “The main message in The Tragedy of Zeke Muckerberg is that hubris is evil and excessive pride is the downfall of most heroes. This performance is a highlight of the year. It took time to write along with COVID and snow day delays, and they did a great job.”

Isaac Bierman ’23 said, “I liked learning the historical elements before launching this project which gave us a lot of insight about ancient theater. It was rough to organize our time to pull the production together, but overall I’m happy with what my colleagues and I produced.”

Cortlin Dalton ’23 expressed his thoughts on not being a “regular” on the stage at MICDS. “I’ve always liked acting, theater, and movies, but I never really wanted to be on the stage,” he said. “I was a little shy, but when we did this, it helped get me out of my element a bit. The most challenging part was putting everything together and practicing and rehearsing. And, of course, the nerves of a live performance! But I enjoyed being on a big stage and seeing the crowd.”

Hood shares pride in the students’ accomplishments. “I have a deep passion for Greek theater, and most students don’t think they do in the beginning, but they get excited about it,” she said. “I love seeing teens incorporate voice and body movements into expression. Most of these students aren’t in our main stage productions, but they love talking and studying theater. I love to see them let the words connect with movements; it can be transformative.”

Bravo, junior and senior actors, for a compelling and polished performance!