It’s great that the Fringe is back, after a break of a couple of years. There are nine Korean acts performing. As always, you need to plan your visit carefully. Unless you plan to be there for a couple of weeks, you’re not going to see all the Korean performances. Here’s a high-level look at the scheduling:
And the good news is that there is very little overlap of showtimes. So, for example, if you visit on 9 August, you could catch 5 Korean performances without too much difficulty (and possibly 6, depending on the timing of the open air performance of Klaxon, which at time of writing hasn’t been confirmed).
The acts are listed below.
Korean performers at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe
Are You Guilty?
Group: TOB Group (Think Outside the Box)
Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus (contemporary, international)
Dance Base – Studio 3 (Venue 22) | 16:50
Aug 16-21, 23-28, 50 mins | Book tickets
Korea’s TOB Group presents a double bill of contemporary dance shows exploring the bystander effect and mass consumerism. The show fuses together hip-hop, theatre and dance to illustrate our social landscape, relatable to audiences anywhere in the world. Are You Guilty? showcases a radical and contemporary view of the bystander effect and explores the fine line between a perpetrator and a victim using amazing dance moves. Barcode, a bold new work about mass consumerism, questions our need to acquire goods and the value we attach to products and even people. Part of the Korean Showcase 2022.
BreAking
Group: Korea National Contemporary Dance Company
Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus (contemporary, international)
Dance Base – Studio 1 (Venue 22) | 21:30
Aug 5-7, 9-14, 35 mins | Book tickets
‘Don’t fit myself into the world. Do it the other way around!’ Break away from fixed systems and be the creator of your own rhythm and individuality. BreAking brings together artists who imagine, play and reconstruct this new world, inviting you to meet a feast of unique selves who break up and mix up the status quo. With music by Lee Ilwoo, of the traditional Korean folk, post-rock band Jambinai, five contemporary dancers and three top street dancers including the amazing DROP (Go Junyoung/Uptown Family), the crew transport the audience into a trance.
Choreography: Lee Kyungeun | Music: Lee Ilwow | Lighting Ryou Backhee
Performed by: DROP | Babysleek | Jung Beomgwan | Kim Jinsoon | Kim Miri | Kim Youngeun | Kim Hyunjoo | G1
Lee Kyungeun won the Rookie of the Year Award with her debut work “Wavering Heart” in 1996. She founded LEE K-DANCE in 2002 and has been experimenting of coexistence of diversity with the traditional material as an art director. Since the early 2000s she has been spotlighted as a “most promising next-generation choerographer” in the media such as the Dong-A Ilbo and KBS, and has swept renowned dance awards in Korea from 1996. She participated as an assistance choreographer at the opening and closing ceremony of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
Nutcrusher
Group: Sung Im Her
Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus (contemporary, performers of colour)
Dance Base – Studio 3 (Venue 22) | 19:10
Aug 23-28, 1 hour | Book tickets
Nutcrusher looks at sexual objectification and power by questioning how we relate to our bodies, how they are presented and re-presented, and how cultural context affects this. Sung Im Her is interested in how her three identities of woman, performer and migrant intersect, especially in relation to the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. The work is also informed by experiences of being looked at in unnerving and disempowering ways. With Nutcrusher, Sung Im Her draws our attention to the gaze, to how we look at our body and what effect that may have. Part of Horizon Showcase.
Korean Yeonhee Concert
Group: Variety E-Seo
Music (traditional, international)
theSpaceTriplex – Big (Venue 38) | 11:20am (12-14 Aug) 11:35am thereafter
Aug 12-20, 50 mins | Book tickets
Variety E-Seo is a young company taking the Korean traditional performing arts in a new direction: this concert takes the form of four pieces of yeonhee music and dance, with rhythmic, powerful and ritual interpretations of ancient traditions. Expect shamanistic rituals, beautiful costumes, vibrant and exciting movements, as they perform three movements based on traditional music forms Mungut and Gilnori, and nongak (farmer’s music) with participation from the audience!
Six Stories
Group: WeMu
Music (traditional, international)
theSpace @ Symposium Hall – Amphitheatre (Venue 43) | 22:40
Aug 8-18, 50 mins | Book tickets
Taking inspiration from the Korean shamanic rituals known as Gut, WeMu reimagines the traditional in a concert combining Western and Korean instruments, creating modern music based on ancient customs. Gut is a ritual that has been designated as part of Korea’s National Intangible Cultural Heritage and is safeguarded by dedicated preservation societies. In this concert, WeMu breaks down the shamanic rituals into new forms, transforming the welcome and repatriation of deities into a welcome to audiences. Part of the Korean Showcase 2022.
The Princess Pyunggang
Group: The Bibimbab Theatre (The Universal Performing Arts and Theatre Association)
Musicals and Opera (international, children’s)
Greenside @ Infirmary Street – Olive Studio (Venue 236) | 11:40
Aug 5-13, 45 mins | Book tickets
The Princess Pyunggang exemplifies Korean traditional culture and history through the story of a fool, Ondal and the Princess Pyunggang. Performed in English, it combines Korean music, puppets, and dance to deliver a breath-taking performance that wishes to inspire audiences while exchanging history, presenting a Korean perspective on love. ‘Support freedom of expression? Then go and see this show!’ (Stage). ‘The passion, strength, and power of Koreans and their long dramatic experience….. this was one of the best theatre performances I have ever seen’ (Kevin Meyers, New York Fringe Festival Review).
Mary, Chris, Mars
Group: Trunk Theatre Project
Theatre (puppetry, international)
Summerhall – Red Lecture Theatre (Venue 26) | 13:30
Aug 3-14, 16-21, 23-28, 1 hour | Book tickets
Lonely, single astronauts Mary and Chris meet by chance in outer space and spend a surreal Christmas day together on Mars. This family-friendly show takes us on an absurdist’s journey through what it means to spend time together in person, using intricate miniature sets pieces, physical theatre and puppetry, accompanied with beautifully melancholic live music. Part of the Korean Showcase 2022.
Puppet Pansori Sugungga
Group: Theatre Moksung
Theatre (puppetry, international)
theSpace @ Niddry St – Lower Theatre (Venue 9) | 18:05
Aug 5-13, 15-20, 50 minutes | Book tickets
An untraditional staging of classical Korean themes using the traditional puppetry of pansori and live music. Witty and creative, and appealing to adults and children alike, Moksung brings international influences to traditional forms. Puppet Pansori Sugungga gathers the residents of two worlds together to explore their prejudices, as a single performer uses puppets, various theatrical objects, stage lighting and non-traditional music instruments to create a beautiful, emotive performance. Puppeteer and object artist Suho Moon and pansori performer Eunsil Noh create work around the pansori epic chant, which is listed as part of Korea’s UNESCO intangible cultural heritage.
Klaxon
Group: Gum-sul
Theatre (puppetry, international)
theSpace @ Symposium Hall, Garden | 14:00-14:30
theSpace @ Niddry St, Cobbled Courtyard | 16:00-16:30
Aug 5-12 | Free
What was possessed would have been desired in the eyes of others. What was discarded would have been ugly in the eyes of others. If it was a relationship that was once glamorous yet abandoned at the end, it is possible that people too are merely an object to others. When everything is meant to be old and worn out in end, how can we blame the change of heart? Like any other day, horns blare everywhere. In the city forest where danger and warning rise, let’s look at an old woman whose horn has stopped.
Since 1997, ‘Gum-sul’ has been conducting various experimental activities using materials like dolls and other objects. It has steadily continued with small-scaled works and pure creations of less than two people. This art group continued to produce adult genre works to expand the age group of puppet theater. The group had been continuing various attempts of new genres and convergence, and the company values puppetry as a skill rather than a prop.
Directed by Kim Shin Ki | Devised and performed by Song Eunkyoung | Concept by Lee Eun Kyung
Links:
(automatically generated) Read LKL’s review of this event here.