The story of Chun Hyang, Korea’s most famous Pansori tale, has been updated and choreographed into a ballet. Catch it for free at the Peacock Theatre on Thursday 19th July. Here’s a trailer to give an idea of the style of the production, and you can see some stills from the ballet on their Facebook … [Read More]
Category: Performance (page 21)
Gumok, a new musical at the Chelsea Theatre
News of an interesting new musical getting an outing for one day only later this month in Chelsea, featuring the stories of the Korean Comfort Women: Gumok Date: 30th June, 2012 Place: Chelsea Theatre (SW10 0DR) Time: 5pm and 8pm Price: Pay what you like (min. £1) Project Team Gumok presents a new musical “Gumok” … [Read More]
Theatre visit: A Korean Midsummer Night’s Dream in the perfect venue
One of the features of Korean theatrical performance is the interaction with the audience. A venue such as the Globe is therefore doubly well suited to a Korean Shakespeare adaptation. Performers could easily mingle with the audience, surprise them from behind with a crash of the small 꽹과리 gong. And the audience standing in front … [Read More]
2012 Travel Diary 3: Bugaksan to Daehakro
Seoul, Saturday 24 March 2012. There’s time to kill before our evening appointment in Daehakro, so we go for a stroll in Samcheong-dong, along with most of the rest of Seoul. It’s 5pm on a pleasant Saturday afternoon, and young couples amble with an charming lack of purpose, getting in your way if you want to … [Read More]
From Local Monsters to BEAST: 1500 years of Korean music and dance at SOAS
Last weekend’s free seminar at SOAS ranged from Silla dynasty lion dances to last month’s tour of Taiwan by BEAST, and from ancient Confucian ceremonial music to Samulnori and hip-hop via Trot. Juhae Gu introduced us to the dying musical form of Akkeuk (악극) – a form of stage musical using Trot music. It is … [Read More]
A Korean Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Globe – and a discount for LKL readers
In Summer 2005 the Yohangza Theatre Company came to the Edinburgh Frings to perform their Korean version of the Shakespeare classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and brought it to London’s Barbican the following year. It was amazing. As part of the London 2012 round of special events the Globe Theatre is putting on Globe to … [Read More]
Concert notes: A Little Nightmare Music – Igudesman and Joo
“His parents must be so disappointed” I overheard a Korean woman say, of Joo Hyung-ki. “They wanted him to be a concert pianist, and he’s doing comedy instead.” It was the sort of thing that Maureen Lipman would say, in character as the proud Jewish mother. Joo, one half of the hilarious musical duo Igudesman … [Read More]
Guilt, Nostalgia, and Victimhood: Korea in the Japanese Theatrical Imagination
Looks like a very interesting talk at the Japan Foundation on 1 December. Of course, it has to clash with something equally as compelling: a rare screening of Kim Ki-young’s Insect Woman at the KCC. The Japan Foundation hosts: Guilt, Nostalgia, and Victimhood: Korea in the Japanese Theatrical Imagination Speaker: Carol Fisher Sorgenfrei (UCLA) How … [Read More]
Festival visit: Ahn Eun-me Company – Princess Bari
In reviewing the amazing work of Ahn Eun-me I am always faced with a problem: how to convey in words the extraordinary visual and musical experience that is so unique to her. When writing about her Chunhyang in 2006 I was at a loss for words. Trying to convey the intensity of the visual and … [Read More]
Tripod Performance Night – Vanity of Vanities – at MokSpace
Those who attended the Crossfields opening night at the KCC two years ago may remember a striking performance by Ku Hye-young, who followed it up by doing a piano recital dressed in black bin bags. Expect more out-of-the-ordinary performance at Mokspace this Friday, together with a fashion showcase: Tripod Performance Night – Vanity of Vanities … [Read More]
Yun Ho-jin’s musical Hero, on stage in New York
“Bombastic” is the New York Times’s view of Yun Ho-jin’s musical Hero http://t.co/2tsHSdf – Exactly what I thought of his previous one, The Last Empress, when it showed in London in 2002 # [Read More]
Festival visit: Gaksi, Mago
In Korean mytholoogy there is a legendary grandmother figure, a giant goddess who created islands and arranged the mountains and the oceans in their proper positions. In Jeju Island, she is known as Seolmundae Halmang – Grandmother Seolmundae; elsewhere in Korea she is known as Mago. The stories about her are sometimes comic, sometimes tragic. … [Read More]
Festival visit: Pop-Up! The Amazing Adventures of Moo Dong
Confession time: I didn’t actually make it to this show. It is showing in the morning, and that’s when my train is on its way up from London. But based on the reviews linked below, it’s well worth a visit. The show aims to bring great art works to life for a young audience, and … [Read More]
Festival visit: Perfordian Factory – Babbling Comedy 2
Babbling Comedy continues the fine tradition of non-verbal Korean acts which appeal to audiences of all ages. On paper, the performance contains little that seems innovative; and it would take a courageous producer to take on a comedy show that promises, as this one does, to include some hand-bell ringing. But in the overall context … [Read More]
Festival visit: Mokhwa Repertory Company – The Tempest
At his press conference in London last Monday, Oh Tae-seok spoke about his work with the Mohkwa Repertory Company. One of the priorities of Master Oh, who had spend many years as director of Korea’s National Theatre company, is to nurture the next generation of actors. And one of the pleasures of working with his … [Read More]
Festival visit: Jasmine Gwangju
Gwangju seems an event from the distant past, but in fact was only 31 years ago. This year, the archives which document the history of that brief uprising were listed by UNESCO in their Memory of the World register. With perfect timing, bearing in mind the democratic uprisings in the Arab world this year, the … [Read More]