[Interview] I Didn't Expect Regional University Theater and Film Departments to Become This Popular... Daekyung University, Even Metropolitan Areas Are Eyeing It, Professor Kim Geon-pyo's Story

Daekyung University Requires Participation in Over 12 Plays During Enrollment

One-Year Advanced Course After Graduation Increases Graduate School Admission Rates

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] An era of crisis for regional universities that close in the order of cherry blossoms blooming. There is a department at a regional university that produces many talented graduates from the area and draws the attention of students from the metropolitan area. And there is a commander leading this department.

The Department of Theater and Film at Daekyung University, which first opened the era of producing theater and film professionals from regional universities, traces its history back to 1996. This year marks its 27th anniversary.

Professor Kim Geon-pyo, Daekyung University.

Graduates of the Theater and Film Department, who combine theory and practice, are achieving remarkable results in the theater world, including Daehangno and Chungmuro. Among theater professionals active in the region, over 65% are graduates of this department.

The Theater and Film Department is also experiencing a steady breeze of change. Universities are pioneering new classes and practical training to match the rapidly changing performance concepts.

Daekyung University introduced a one-year advanced course (Department of Performing Arts) after completing the third year of the Theater and Film Department, achieving an increase in graduate school enrollment rates for its graduates.

Professor Kim Geonpyo, head of the Theater and Film Department and the Department of Performing Arts, is an expert in theater and performing arts, conducting theater education, directing, and theater criticism nationwide. He has taken charge of major festivals and theater productions, including the total directing of the Daegu World Athletics Championships citizen pre-event.

Last year, he successfully led the theater festival as the chairman of the organizing committee and general artistic director of the '2020 Miryang Performing Arts Festival,' which was evaluated as the most exemplary festival.

Professor Kim Geonpyo said, "Students' thinking has changed a lot, and their interests have shifted, so professors must not be complacent or lazy. Education that matches students' perspectives and fosters voluntary motivation is important."

We met Professor Kim Geonpyo of the Theater and Film Department to learn about the achievements and future prospects.

Q: I heard that the theater-centered department has now started producing its own web dramas?

- The Theater and Film Department is an actor-centered department. If students learn the basics through theater, they should not perform only in a specific genre. As an actor, balanced expression is important. In the first year, students fulfill the lacking basics such as body movement, speech, and vocalization, and in the second and third years, they learn diverse acting expressions through production practice and major subjects.

We educate students to express boundaries across various genres such as broadcasting, theater, and musicals. In major classes, students produce at least one web drama or short film annually with field experts, gaining practical experience through this process.

Q: What kind of students does Daekyung University’s Theater and Film Department currently select?

- The department's enrollment was 70 students but has been reduced to 40 this year. We sought a change in approach due to the declining school-age population. We focus on selecting excellent talents for more systematic actor training and to highlight the charm of traditional theater, subdividing into acting, performance staff, directing, and writing fields.

Q: The Theater and Film Department has won many awards at external theater festivals. What is the secret?

- Perhaps few departments have as many awards as ours. We have experienced a bountiful harvest of over 20 awards, including grand prizes, best works, and acting awards at major domestic theater festivals.

What’s more special is that our department does not form separate teams or practice specifically for theater competitions. We do not only select students who are naturally talented actors. I think voluntary participation by each grade has been the foundation for awards, and we seem to produce theater fiercely well.

Q: There are many universities in the metropolitan area. Why do many students choose Daekyung University’s Theater and Film Department?

- Our students are passionate and apply with strong conviction. During their studies, they participate in more than 12 theater productions, and during semester breaks, they plan and perform 4 to 6 voluntary campus theater festivals. The camaraderie between seniors and juniors is good, and learning as actors and theater professionals in such an atmosphere creates synergy.

There are also many applicants from Seoul, Gyeonggi, and other metropolitan areas. Many students want to enter Daekyung University’s Theater and Film Department to focus solely on making theater diligently.

Q: How many field professors are there in Daekyung University’s Theater and Film Department?

- Currently, including adjunct instructors, there are about 25 professors. Many full-time professors, lecturers, and adjunct teachers are active in the field, and each subject is led by experts in that area, which is an advantage.

Experts cover directing, acting, stage, broadcast acting, production practice, musicals, etc., enhancing the balance between practical skills and theory.

Theater and Film Department performance scene.

Q: Recently, students’ major works were performed in a relay at Miryang Arena (formerly Miryang Theater Village). What kind of performances were these?

- The major students work very hard. We held an intensive major course with students at Miryang Arena for two weeks, and the results were presented as performances. The students’ satisfaction was higher than expected. Miryang is a sacred place for theater. The advantage is that major students can immerse themselves only in performances and works, and the theater environment is optimized for theater performances.

In the future, we plan to collaborate with Miryang Arena to offer seasonal intensive courses and planned performance programs exclusively for majors. Except for the theater festival and Miryang Arena’s usage season, it seems good to partially open the venue to majors.

Q: I heard you have done a lot of cultural performance planning?

- I didn’t do it because I wanted to, but started after being appointed at the university. My specialty is theater criticism, and I do theater education and directing.

The theater field is originally vast. Daegu is a city with many regional festivals, and our university is dynamic. While serving as the head of planning and other positions at the university, I had no choice but to do it, and when I briefly served as the head of the Department of Performance Events, I planned various programs for the department.

Each time, it became a big issue. At that time, a political figure said I had excellent sensibility, and that was when I first realized I had a sense. I have no ties with politics, but those I worked with then are now working in the current government.

Q: Is there anyone in your family working in theater or performing arts?

- I am the youngest among three brothers and one sister, and the only one in this field. Among relatives, there is Dr. Kim Woo-ok, former director of the Korean National University of Arts Theater Department, but if I had to name the biggest influence, it would be my older brothers.

I followed my eldest brother, who liked novels and theater, and went to see many plays from a young age. I also remember my younger brother liked theater quite a bit. My younger brother’s childhood friend is director Jo Gwanghwa.

They did a lot of theater at church, and Jo Gwanghwa’s original name is Jo Younggyu, whom I have known since elementary school. My younger brother is currently serving as ambassador to Tanzania after being consul general in Hiroshima, Japan, and Gwanghwa is a theater professional. When I struggled with theater, Gwanghwa was a great comfort.

Q: You published a criticism collection titled ‘Reading Contemporary Theater.’

- It is a book recording 100 plays. My job is to watch theater and write. Producing a play requires much sweat and effort, but I think theater criticism is like producing a play as well.

It takes a lot of time to watch a play and interpret its meaning, and I write intensely until the work being reviewed leaves my body. I transfer the final manuscript to a portal site notepad and agonize even over the last syllable.

Writing sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph can sometimes be painful, but once the writing leaves my body, it is erased. This year, I am preparing two more books on theater majors. My goal is to publish 10 books before I turn sixty.

Q: The book begins with ‘Beyond the struggle for life and death.’ What does this mean?

- My original major is theater education, directing, and criticism. In the early 1990s, I was active as an actor but collapsed due to acute growth thrombosis during a performance. I fought for my life in the intensive care unit for seven months and survived miraculously.

I underwent four major surgeries, and everyone around me said I would die. I think I survived thanks to my father’s devoted nursing. I had an artificial tube inserted in my throat for a long time, so after surgery, I could only produce 10% of the voice possible with vocal cords, and I obsessively studied cookbooks every day to keep my appetite stronger than my life cells.

Through fierce and desperate rehabilitation, almost everything has returned to normal now. After that, the fear that I could no longer do theater pressed down on me like death, but to live, I had to write theater stories. Strangely, as I wrote and looked at the stage, the lost senses gradually began to revive.

Q: What are the alternatives to the declining school-age population?

- I think the cliff phenomenon of the entrance population will worsen further. Fortunately, our school is an excellent university specializing in vocational education and specialization.

We are enhancing the university’s capabilities by adjusting academic affairs, redesigning curricula, inviting excellent faculty, and continuing promotional activities targeting high schools.

Also, we maintain a ‘one department, one company’ environment where students learn practical skills on-site. On campus, we provide a practical environment identical to the corporate field for each department’s specialty. This is the ‘Expo-Up Station,’ that is, Daekyung University’s CO-OP industry-academia integrated education.

There are many special departments, and student satisfaction is high. Especially, the Department of Animal Breeding and Welfare is considered the best nationwide. There is a zoo practice center on campus, and our school is the only one among domestic universities with this facility. In the region, haven’t we succeeded in the difficult performing arts-related departments?