At 5 p.m. Today at the National Theater...
Minister Yoo In-chon to Attend
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that an event commemorating the relocation of the National Theater Company of Korea to the National Theater will be held at 5 p.m. on the 8th at the National Theater.
Minister Yoo In-chon of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will attend the ceremony to deliver a congratulatory speech. Senior actors from the National Theater Company such as Park Jeong-ja and Lee Ho-jae, as well as figures from theater-related associations, organizations, and affiliated institutions in the cultural and artistic community, are expected to attend. The ceremony will be held under the theme "National Theater Company, Continuing the Future of Theater from Namsan."
The National Theater Company was founded in 1950, and the National Theater, established the same year, was the origin and central stage of the National Theater Company’s activities. In 1973, the National Theater built its current venue in Jangchung-dong and established its base there. At that time, the National Theater Company was a directly affiliated organization. In 2010, the National Theater Company became an independent corporation and separated from the National Theater. The National Theater Company settled in the Seogye-dong cultural space, which houses the Baek Seong-hee Jang Min-ho Theater and the Small Theater Pan, and from 2015, it operated the Myeongdong Arts Theater under consignment. In 2023, as the Seogye-dong cultural space area began reconstruction into a complex cultural space (scheduled to open in 2030), the National Theater Company temporarily moved to the Hongdae Art Center in Daehangno.
Meanwhile, the theater community expressed opinions that the National Theater Company should return to the National Theater. On February 2nd last year, at the Lunar New Year concert held at the National Theater, senior figures in the theater community officially requested the relocation of the National Theater Company to the National Theater. In response, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism decided to relocate the National Theater Company to the site of the Performing Arts Museum at the National Theater, and the National Theater Company completed the relocation to the National Theater at the end of last month.
The National Theater Company and the National Theater will use this relocation as an opportunity to sign a memorandum of understanding to jointly plan more than two plays annually and promise priority booking for these performances. This year, the National Theater Company will present two performances at the National Theater. In the first half of the year, "His Mother" (April 2?19) will be performed at the Daloreum Theater, and in the second half, "Heo Nanseolheon" (working title, November 22?30) will be performed at the Haeoreum Theater. In particular, the original play "Heo Nanseolheon," performed at the 1,200-seat Haeoreum Theater, is being produced with overseas expansion in mind from the early planning stages.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is also working to secure rehearsal rooms near the National Theater. In the future, the National Theater Company will establish a system that organically manages the entire process from planning, production, rehearsal, performance, to promotion and marketing within the Namsan Performing Arts Belt centered on the National Theater.
Minister Yoo In-chon stated, "The return to Namsan is an important step symbolizing both the history and future of the National Theater Company. It will strengthen the theater production capabilities of the National Theater Company and serve as an opportunity for Korean theater to take a new leap forward."
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