A Midsummer Night's Dream Returns After a Year
Oberon and Titania Portrayed as a Realistic Elderly Couple
Kim Dongwan and Jang Jungkwon Reprise Their Roles
The National Opera Company will stage "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which made its Korean premiere in April last year, once again at the Opera Theater of the Seoul Arts Center on August 30 and 31, marking its return after more than a year.
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is an English opera composed by British composer Benjamin Britten, based on Shakespeare's play of the same name. Britten removed the original scene featuring Theseus in the court and instead began the work with the appearance of fairies in the forest. Apart from this, he is praised for remaining faithful to Shakespeare's original text.
The story revolves around the chaos that unfolds in a fairy forest ruled by Oberon, the king of the fairies, and his wife Titania. The events are set in motion when Hermia, a maiden of Athens, elopes into the fairy forest with her lover Lysander. Hermia, defying her father's order to marry Demetrius, escapes with Lysander into the forest. Demetrius, along with Helena who loves him, follows them into the fairy forest. Oberon, hoping to help Helena's unrequited love for Demetrius, instructs the fairy Puck to fetch a love flower. When the juice of this flower is applied to someone's eyes, they fall in love with the first person they see upon awakening. Oberon orders Puck to use the juice on Demetrius, but Puck mistakenly applies it to Lysander, causing the relationships among the lovers to become tangled.
National Opera Company 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' Performance Scene [Photo provided by National Opera Company]
Shakespeare portrayed Oberon and Titania not as divine or mythical beings, but as characters who could plausibly exist in our lives, even depicting them in marital quarrels. Britten also focused on Oberon and Titania, placing their marital conflict at the center of the story.
In this production, Oberon and Titania are depicted not as gods or fairy royalty, but as a realistic elderly couple. The set features a highly realistic interior of a forest cabin, where a marital argument unfolds at the kitchen table. However, the fantastical elements of the work remain unchanged: Puck is portrayed as a goblin with the ability to duplicate himself, and Oberon transforms from an old man into the image of a 19th-century English gentleman.
The National Opera Company plans to recreate the emotional impact of the premiere by retaining most of last year's cast. Kim Dongwan, formerly of the group Shinhwa, who made his opera debut as Puck in last year's performance, will return to the stage in the same role. Countertenor Jang Jungkwon, who surprised audiences with his clear and beautiful tone as Oberon in the previous production, will reprise his role as well.
New cast members include soprano Yoon Sanga as Helena, bass Ryu Jisang-who gained attention as a resident singer at Germany's Braunschweig State Theater-as Theseus, and mezzo-soprano Ryu Hyunsu, who is active both in Germany and Korea, as Hippolyta.
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