Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Lee Ja-ram experiments with pansori at Ukchuk-ga
By Kwon Mee-yoo
A little woman in her 30s stands on stage of “Ukchuk-ga” dressed in a lacy blouse, purple modernized hanbok dress with reversible skirt and combat boots. When she sticks a wooden spoon into her chignon, she becomes Kim Sun-jeong, a tough woman who survives the hardships of war with her three children.
She is Lee Ja-ram, 32, a renowned “pansori” (Korean traditional narrative music) singer. She entered the world of pansori in 1990 when she was 12. She holds the record of the youngest person to sing the entire “Chunhyangga” in eight straight hours when she was 20 and is listed in the Guinness World Records.
However, she did not settle for the traditional art and explored new genres. Lee is a leader of Maybe Lee Ja-ram Band and released a single in 2009. She also received the Best Performance by a New Actress distinction at the fifth Musical Awards earlier this month for her role of Song-hwa in the musical “Seopyeonje.”
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Lee now presents “Ukchuk-ga,” a modern version of pansori, co-produced by LG Arts Center and Uijeongbu Arts Center and directed by Nam In-woo of Pansori Project ZA. Taking a cue from Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children,” she wrote the script, composed the music and acts all the roles.
Her previous pansori creation was also inspired by Brecht and “The Good Person of Szechwan” was reborn as Lee Ja-ram’s “Sacheon-ga.” She won the Best Actress Award at the International Theater Festival Kontakt 2010 in Poland for her performance in “Sacheon-ga.”
For “Ukchuk-ga,” LG Art Center in a reversal of scenery made its stage to seat 350 people and its original 1,100 seats turned into a backdrop for the show, covered in white cloth and a large piece of white fabric hanging from the third floor balcony of the auditorium. The audience then has the rare chance to be on stage and be in the auditorium with a new perspective.
Though with inspiration taken from Western literature, “Ukchuk-ga” has all basic elements of pansori — employing music, song, gesture and anything the narrator could do to make the story interesting.
Pansori is basically a one-person show and Lee takes the stage alone as three musicians — two percussionists and one bassist — provide back up for about two and a half hours with one 15 minute intermission. Lee plays some 20 characters, including protagonist Kim, her three children, soldiers and a farmer. Her voice, facial expressions and movement change with every scene to portray the individuality of each character.
This witty storyteller starts the show with a verse of “Jeokbyeokga,” or Song of the Red Cliff describing the legendary Chinese wars in the Three Kingdoms era around A.D. 180., as a narrator.
However, instead of continuing the tongue-tying lines, she reverts to the modern way of speaking and talks about a woman named Sun-jeong, Lee’s interpretation of Mother Courage, a Korean woman who keeps on surviving with her three children during wartime in China. At first, her name Sun-jong means obedience, but as the show progresses, Kim changes her name to An-na and finally to Uk-chuk, which means tough and relentless in Korean.
Lee is not tied down by tradition but spreads her imagination as wide as possible. For instance, Kim even hitch-hikes a ride on a horse on her way to China and has an iPhone in her cart.
Audiences are generally advised to keep quiet in the theater, but pansori is different. The audience is welcomed to add “chuimsae,” or make encouraging remarks during the show.
Lee’s favorite chuimsae is “yeppeuda,” which means pretty in Korean. After playing a scene sapping her energy, she is cheered up by the audiences’ chuimsae and continues singing and acting. She also offers “makgeolli” (Korea rice wine) to the audience as a part of the show to liven up the mood.
At the end of the performance, Lee was drenched in sweat and gave a thumbs up to her musicians and staff members. The audience echoed the approval with a standing ovation for the pansori prodigy now pioneering her way.
The performance runs from Friday to Sunday at LG Arts Center. All seats are 40,000 won. Call (02) 2005-0114 or visit www.lgart.com for more information.