Daehakro Theater Quad to Present Three Productions Selected from "Encore, Please" Open Call

"Under the Ground" Audio Play Begins on January 27
Followed by the Play "Function Domino" and Circus "Friction"

Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture's Daehakro Theater Quad will present three planned performances selected from the 2025-2026 "Encore, Please" open call, starting from January 27.

The three productions to be staged at Quad are the immersive audio play "Under the Ground" (January 27-February 8), the play "Function Domino" by the creative group LAS (February 20-28), and the circus performance "Friction" by the troupe FORCE (March 12-14).

"Under the Ground," an immersive audio play by the theater group Nitter, is based on the novel of the same name by science fiction writer Kim Booyoung and invites audience participation. When it premiered at the Wooran Foundation, it sold out due to anticipation for its innovative format and artistic quality.

Immersive Audio Play 'Under the Ground'
Photo by Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, (c)Wooran Foundation for Culture

Audience members wear headphones and join a journey exploring the underground world of "Jiguk," imagining the world through multidimensional sound and light without the appearance of actors. Rather than being mere spectators, audience members actively contribute to completing the narrative, experiencing new sensory possibilities in performing arts.

The play "Function Domino" is a reinterpretation of the award-winning work by Japanese playwright Maekawa Tomohiro, adapted to fit the context of Korean society. Following a mystery that begins with an unexplained traffic accident, the play delicately exposes the cracks in modern social systems and the anxieties of individual psychology.

Play 'Function Domino'
Photo provided by Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, (c) Kim Booyoung

FORCE's circus performance "Friction" uses the physics concept of friction as a starting point, expressing the energy and balance created when bodies, spaces, and objects come into contact, all through the language of circus. The piece sensorially embodies the paradox of friction-which both restricts and generates movement-by combining it with media art, demonstrating new possibilities for circus in the black box theater Quad.

FORCE is pioneering a new direction for circus, proving that it can be a genre that goes beyond mere technical display to encompass contemporary concepts and ideas. The team promises to deliver an intense sensory experience to the audience with densely choreographed movements in the transformable black box theater.

Circus 'Friction'
Photo by Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, (c)FORCE-ARTECH

Song Hyungjong, CEO of the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, stated, "The three planned performances at Daehakro Theater Quad in the first half of 2026 will transcend forms and genres, expanding the audience's senses and perceptions in new ways. Moving forward, Quad will continue to explore the future of performing arts by presenting experimental and challenging creations in collaboration with contemporary artists."

The Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture also announced plans to hold an open call and selection process for the 2026-2027 "Encore, Please" productions in the first half of this year. The selected works will go through a development process and will be presented as planned performances at Quad sequentially from the first half of next year.