New 'Arko Live' Performance from the Performing Arts Creation Workshop Premieres at the Theater

Exclusive Screening with Korea Arts & Culture Education Service and CGV
Presenting 5 Works Including Musicals and Plays from June 7

The performing arts creation platform 'New Works of the Year' meets audiences not only on stage but also in movie theaters.

Arko Live_Kim Jae-hoon's PNO [Photo by Korea Arts & Culture Education Service]

The Arts Council Korea announced on the 31st that it will hold ‘ARKO LIVE,’ an exclusive screening of selected outstanding domestic creative works in theater, musicals, dance, and more, in collaboration with CGV.

This year’s ARKO LIVE will sequentially release one work every Wednesday and screen it for a week: ▲Musical ‘Cheongchun Soeum’ ▲Music ‘Kim Jaehoon’s P.N.O’ ▲Musical ‘Alice’ ▲Musical ‘William and the Williams of William’ ▲Play ‘White Spring.’ Audiences can enjoy these performances at eight theaters nationwide, including Seoul (Gangbyeon, Yongsan I’Park Mall), Incheon (Incheon), Chungcheong (Cheonan Terminal), Busan (Daeyeon), Daegu (Daegu Hyundai), Gwangju (Gwangju Sangmu), and Mokpo (Mokpo Peace Square).

This ARKO LIVE was filmed and produced using 11 4K cameras, delivering vivid stage details even in movie theaters. In particular, it will provide an immersive live experience by optimizing sound to match CGV’s sound processing system.

Moreover, the Arts Council explained that instead of the limited perspective from fixed seats during a live performance, the videos were shot and directed from various angles and positions, creating cinematic beauty as a standalone work rather than a simple recording of the performance.

The musical ‘Cheongchun Soeum,’ opening on June 7, is a comedic drama about youth living in an old villa who sing songs of hope and laughter. Using the theme of noise between floors, it tells stories of various young people living today, singing hope while comforting each other despite an uncertain future. It received praise for its warm perspective on people and family and its beautiful music.

The music performance ‘Kim Jaehoon’s P.N.O,’ presented on June 14, is a contemporary music show and experimental play that starts from a sociological perspective and reflection on the piano. It delicately examines the complex network surrounding the piano. The process of constructing a new instrument, P.N.O, from the physically and conceptually deconstructed piano is captured in sonata form, focusing on stories around the piano. This unique approach and reinterpretation of the piano attracted attention during the performance.

The musical ‘Alice’ meets audiences on June 21. It features Nayoung, who has autism spectrum disorder, as the protagonist. The story follows a father preparing for a farewell and their adventure through a fairy-tale-like Wonderland to find a way to be together forever. Through Nayoung’s wandering as Alice in Wonderland and the characters she meets, the show conveys a warm sentiment that resonates deeply by reflecting on our own childhood selves.

Arko Live_Williams and Williams' Williams.
[Photo by Korea Arts & Culture Education Service]

On June 28, the musical ‘William and the Williams of William’ will be released. Inspired by the unpublished Shakespeare play scandal that shook late 18th-century London, this work vividly portrays human beings who crave love, recognition, wealth, and fame, struggling and making choices on the boundary between truth and lies, and paying the price. It sharply questions how we face truth today through the lens of 18th-century British society, where lies also became truth.

The final work, the play ‘White Spring,’ will be screened on July 5. Set in the early 1990s, it centers on university students in a pungmul (traditional Korean percussion music) group who dreamed of ideals but were exposed to violence. The play delicately unfolds the stories of youth experiencing intense and unsettling events amid a violent regime and daily life. The stage encourages understanding and empathy through the fierce youth and received acclaim from both audiences and critics.

Previously, the Arts Council Korea and CGV have pioneered new areas of performing arts content by selecting works from the performing arts creation platform and producing performance videos since 2020. ARKO LIVE, initiated to revitalize performing arts content through video production, has screened 19 works so far and received positive responses each season.

Special events are also planned for audiences attending ARKO LIVE. A special ticket for the respective work will be provided during the screening, offering a chance to cherish the lingering impression of the performance. At the CGV Yongsan I’Park Mall branch, a limited edition cube engraved with ARKO LIVE work posters will be given on a first-come, first-served basis.