Song for the forgotten people
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A scene from “Song of the Red Cliff,” staged at Main Hall Hae of National Theater of Korea in central Seoul through Saturday / Courtesy of National Changgeuk Company of Korea
By Kwon Mee-yoo
The National Changgeuk Company of Korea (NCCK) once again tackles the task of bringing "pansori" (Korean traditional narrative music) to the modern stage. The NCCK's new work, "Song of the Red Cliff," currently staged at the National Theater of Korea on Namsan Mountain, central Seoul, offers a glimpse of its possibilities.
"Song of the Red Cliff" is based on "Jeokbyeokga," one of the five surviving pansori pieces compiled by Shin Jae-hyo (1812-1884). It retells the Chinese historical legend of the Battle of Red Cliffs from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" from the 14th century. “Jeokbyeokga” is designated as the Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 5.
Due to its difficulty emphasizing the beauty and rhyme of the Korean language and large-scale battle scenes, the NCCK staged the piece only three times
in 1985, 2003 and 2009
since the company’s founding in 1962.
The newest rendition is directed by Lee So-young, who previously worked for operas and made her debut in changgeuk through "Song of the Red Cliff." Her adaptation of the tale of the historic battle shifts the gravitation from the heroic commanders Liu Bei, Zhou Yu, and Cao Cao to the nameless soldiers and ordinary people who lived through the time.
Pansori master Song Sun-seop
In an attempt to do so, Lee adapted the original by changing the order of the scenes and putting forward the grassroots. To highlight the tragedy of war, Lee placed the famous war scene as the finish, which resulted in omitting some scenes, such as Guan Yu sparing Cao Cao's life after the defeat.
In the beginning, the sound of villagers pounding rice into flour, chopping firewood and fulling clothes blends into the pansori as the commoners are drawn into the war.
Lee constantly reminds the audience that this is a song for the deceased. The musicians wear black costumes and masks representing the dead, and dancers bring out burning incense to the audience as if the performance is a ritual to console the dead.
The fire attack of the Battle of Red Cliff is described with white fans representing wind, rays of red lights representing fire and paper confetti representing ashes. Lee’s staging of the battle is not uproarious, but rather makes the audience hold its breath in awe of the tragedy of war.
Pansori master and human cultural asset Song Sun-seop, who doubles as pansori composer and narrator, captivates the audience with his presence. The 78-year-old's coarse yet powerful voice, coming from a lifetime's experience, lends the changgeuk the strength to convey the story.
Changgeuk is a genre derived from pansori. In pansori, a vocalist covers all characters and descriptions accompanied by a drummer, but changgeuk is closer to modern theater where each actor plays different characters.
While making vivid of each characters
slick strategist Zhuge Liang and ridiculous Cao Cao
Lee paid tribute to the original form of pansori by assigning some of the significant parts to the narrator Song. Song performs scenes such as Zhao Yun shooting bows and arrows, fire of the Red Cliff and the "Bird Song," which describes Cao Cao's fallen soldiers appearing as birds in resentment of their commander.
The set symbolizing the ribs of a fan is simple but effectively provides the visual spectacle on a rotating stage. It becomes a hill showered with arrows, a boat chasing Zhuge Liang and the battle field of the Red Cliff, complemented with ink-and-wash painting style projections.
The changgeuk runs through Saturday. Tickets cost from 20,000 to 70,000 won. For more information, visit
or call (02) 2280-4114.