Every Wednesday at noon, the outdoor plaza of the National Theater Company of Korea’s Myeongdong Theater becomes a stage, bringing performances out of the theater and into the bustling heart of Seoul.
With some 70,000 to 80,000 people passing through the shopping hub of Myeong-dong daily, the National Theater Company is making use of the location’s unique setting to revive street theater, a genre that has largely faded in Korea since the 1990s.
Its new program, Midday Theater in Myeong-dong, will run weekly through October, offering free performances that turn the area into a festival grounds.
The series spans a wide range of forms — from traditional Korean madanggeuk (“yard theater”) to puppetry, circus, contemporary circus, street dance and mime performances.
The program kicked off Wednesday with a circus performance by Force, and upcoming shows include puppetry by Odongnamu Happening, a marionette play by Theater Pinksocks, mime theater by Baek.S.Pactory, a vertical dance piece by Creation Group Irum, contemporary circus by Codesassy and White Cube Project, breaking street theater by A-Run Crew, circus works by 64J and a traditional performance by Liquid Sound.
Each Wednesday’s performance runs 30 to 60 minutes. Admission is free and requires no reservation -- audiences can simply stop by the plaza at noon to watch. There will be no performance during the week of Chuseok. Organizers note that shows may be suspended or canceled in the event of heavy rain.
hwangdh@heraldcorp.com
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