In May at Myeongdong Art Theater, Presented for the First Time in 50 Years
12 Works Including Hamlet, Scapin, and Cheon Gaeui Parang
The National Theater Company of Korea honors the 100th anniversary of the birth of Cha Beom-seok (1924?2006), a master of Korean realist theater.
On the 25th, the National Theater Company of Korea announced 12 productions to be staged this year and revealed that Cha Beom-seok's Hwalhwasan will be performed at the Myeongdong Arts Theater in May.
Hwalhwasan premiered in 1974 as the 67th regular performance of the National Theater Company at the National Theater's Grand Theater. At that time, the late Lee Hae-rang, known as the "Giant of Korean Theater," directed the play.
The production of Hwalhwasan, returning to the National Theater Company stage after 50 years, will be directed by Yoon Han-sol, resident director of the Green Pig Theater Company and professor at the Korea National University of Arts’ School of Drama. Director Yoon has presented vibrant works that pursue social messages and aesthetic completeness while adding ingenious imagination, including Brain Surgery, Ansansunrye-gil, and The Tree Does Not Visit the Shoe Store.
The French playwright Moli?re’s work Scapin will come not at the end of the year but in April. Scapin, which swept major theater awards at its premiere in 2019, has mostly been performed in December until now. Unlike typical performances, the audience seats will be open during the show to allow free entry and exit, and lighting and sound will be softly adjusted to create an "open seating" stage where audiences can watch more comfortably.
Directors Kim Yeon-min and Jang Han-sae, selected through last year’s "Creative Sympathy: Direction" contest, will present their works at the Hongik University Daehangno Art Center in April and July, respectively. Both directors were chosen in last year’s contest themed "Science, Technology, and Art" and have been developing their works for about seven months. "Creative Sympathy: Direction" is a program started by the National Theater Company in 2021 to develop new plays addressing contemporary issues.
Director Jang Han-sae will stage Cheon Seon-ran’s SF novel A Thousand Blues in April. Using motion capture and three-dimensional sound technology, the production plans to realize a "theatrical metaverse" on stage where the boundary between virtual and reality becomes blurred. The adaptation is by writer Kim Do-young, who wrote The Story of Wang Seogae.
Director Kim Yeon-min will present a work based on the concept of a disappearing region where electricity supply is cut off due to population decline, using an electric grid to represent a "Diary of Disappearance." The play will ironically depict a village where the benefits of technological civilization are fading. The title has not yet been decided.
In July, Hamlet (original by William Shakespeare, adapted by Jung Jin-sae, revised and directed by Boo Sae-rom), starring actor Lee Bong-ryun, will open. When produced in 2020, it attracted attention as actress Lee Bong-ryun was cast as Hamlet, but due to COVID-19, it was only screened online without meeting audiences in person.
The 2020 Cha Beom-seok Playwright Award-winning work Gan and River (written by Dong Yi-hyang, directed by Lee In-su) will also premiere in September. It deals with the story of protagonist L, who is exhausted and numb from daily life and experiences medically unexplained pain.
At the end of the year, the Myeongdong Arts Theater will stage the overseas new work Silent Sky (written by Lauren Gunderson, directed by Kim Min-jung). Set in the 19th century when women could not even vote, it is based on the true story of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt of the Harvard Observatory. The play tells the story of a strong and intelligent woman whose passion for science and pioneering spirit led to discoveries that changed the history of astronomy. Lauren Gunderson, the playwright, is ranked among the "Top 20 Most Produced Playwrights in the U.S." by American Theatre magazine every season.
Writers Park Ji-seon and Shin Hyo-jin, selected through last year’s "Creative Sympathy: Writer" contest, will unveil The Tongue of Silver and Everything in August and October, respectively. The Tongue of Silver centers on the keyword "care solidarity," depicting the story of Jung Eun and Eun-su, who live without support and become protectors for each other. Everything explores the coexistence of humans and non-humans through a world where artificial intelligence (AI) is distributed to every household.
The National Theater Company’s Children and Youth Theater Research Institute is preparing a new youth play titled Super Power (working title, written by Park Geun-hyung and Lee Mi-kyung, directed by Yoon Hye-jin), which will be staged in May.
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