MBCs `Madanggeuk enters new phase with complete facelift

By Han Sang-hee

MBC’s outdoor performance “Funny Story of Gogureyo” is going through a facelift to celebrate its 30th anniversary this month.

“Madanggeuk,” or Korean traditional outdoor performance, was a popular form of entertainment back in the 1970s and 1980s. It was originally performed outdoors, but MBC brought the tradition indoors, into large stadiums for practicality and easier access. It is basically a musical-like performance, where the characters sing and act on a round stage located in the middle of the venue with the audience seated around it.

Due to other forms of entertainment, such as television and the Internet, the traditional genre has been considered as old-fashioned and out-of-date with the main audience being a bit older than the average musical and theater fan.

“We transformed it into a hybrid genre, with a