What could an opera about an imaginary war, a science fiction play about a father and daughter separated by space and a dance piece challenging ballet traditions possibly all have in common? They are all part of the 26th Seoul Performing Arts Festival (SPAF). The festival invites audiences to put down their phones and experience art together in theaters, stepping away from the personalized digital content selected by algorithms. Beginning on Oct. 6, the annual festival will bring 20 productions spanning theater, dance, music and interdisciplinary performances to major venues across the city under the theme “Multiverse of Art.” “Rather than seeking a single beauty or a fixed answer, this year’s ‘Multiverse of Art’ brings together different perspectives, senses and forms of artistic creation, inviting audiences out of the isolation of individual screens and into the shared space of the theater,” artistic director Choi Kyu said at a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday. A major highlight will be “Oiseau,” a staged reading of the first chapter of Nobel laureaute Han Kang’s