NTCK puts on a wide variety of performances and shows. It’s known for looking at the traditions of Korean performances and applying them to modern projects. On a Sunday, 30th October, the NTCK hosted an afternoon and evening of traditional Korean dancing, masks and music. It’s aim was to rediscover where theatre comes from and the traditions that have been passed down. We were lucky enough to be invited to see what was being present!
They had performances of traditional rituals, Gut (the rites performed by Korean shamans), the mask dance, Tal-chum, and a new piece of outdoor mask devised theatre. It was an interesting selection of work that brought together the colourful history of Korean performance with innovative modern artists.
The first performer was of the traditional shamanistic ritual of Gut performed by Jeong-work Park. Of course, as a foreign guest,the narrative was all in Korean. So it was difficult to understand the actual story, but it was easy to understand the feeling and emotional connection that the audience felt towards him.
He had a variety of costumes and props that are used to exorcise the evil spirits and appease the gods. The food offering were handed out to the audience, fruit, bread and soju, a local alcoholic drink!
There was a big rush to receive some of this, it is particularly lucky to eat this blessed food and drink. There was a lot of audience participation and it was clear that he was thought to be hilarious. It was easy to get caught up in the call and response, as well as the clapping and appreciation of the singing and music. He was also joined by two women (shamed are traditionally women in Korean culture) who were so engaging and energetic that it was impossible to not to get caught up with the audiences excitement.
People kept going up on stage to give them tips, tucked into the waistband of their robe or in the band if their hats. The first actor then came back to perform some ‘tricks’, for example standing on a table with objects built up onto it and a knife edge on the top. The shamans has been initiated into these rituals and there is a belief that if you focus on not bleeding, for example, you won’t when standing on the sharp edge. At the end, they all encouraged the audience to come up onto the stage and put on the robes and dance together. The whole performance was joyus, participatory and exciting. The audience and performers fed off each other’s energy and spirit.
Outside, the audience gathered again to watch the ‘Goseong Ogwangdae’, a masked performance that comes from Goseong in the southern part of South Korea. Unlike the other performances, it is not ceremonial for evil spirits, instead it is for more entertainment. The actors told a story through their masks and dancing and it could be compared to Ancient Greek theatre traditions.
One of dramatic characters from the story of the mask dance, Goseong Ogwandae, BB appears in a convenience store in Seoul in 2018 in order to find and eat up a nasty aristocrat and enter the heaven. Who will be the evil aristocrat of our era? This contemporized mask dance shines with humor and parody reminding us our shameful portrait of capitalism.
“Heaven opens with special connections of schools, hometowns and families, also with the land price, bitcoins and lotteries!”
“You must be a yangban(aristocrat) since you know all of that too well!”
The final part of the festival was a conversation between several theatre directors who shared anecdotes of how they incorporate traditional elements of Korean arts into their contemporary work.
The whole event was a great success and it’s very interesting to see the many different types of people from a range of generations who gathered to watch and appreciate the rich history of traditional art from a modern perspective.