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.
Disabled children get together on stage
By Kwon Mee-yoo
“Tarte au Chocolat,” or Chocolate Pie, performed by Erwin Slepcevic and Jean-Paul Ledun, is a play describing how an uncle and his mentally disabled nephew cooperate together to make a delicious, sweet chocolate pie.
Organized by the Korea Children’s Culture and Arts Center, the eighth international festival for disabled children “The Way to the Theater” invited the dramatists to show handicapped people on stage.
Erwin Slepcevic is a 34-year-old mentally disabled actor who plays the son in “Tarte au Chocolat.” He belongs to an artistic organization where he makes music and pottery.
“For Slepcevic, it is important for him to perform in the show,” Martina Kolbinger-Reiner, the director of the show, said. She has been collaborating with disabled people in theater works for 15 years at the Mezzanin Theater.
“Erwin doesn’t speak well, but he is a body speaker. He moves precisely and the idea of this show was to support his specialty,” the director said.
Jean-Paul Ledun, who is actually Slepcevic’s uncle, both in the play and in real life, said the performance shows that Slepcevic is as normal as he is.
“Maybe I am the handicapped one, not him,” Ledun said. “I hope the children and parents have learned what is possible of their children, what they can do and how much they can do.”
Ledun also acts as an interpreter in the touring version of the show. He practiced Korean for seven weeks to tell the Korean audience what Slepcevic is doing.
“We first performed the show in other languages, but found this way better. Though Ledun is not so good at Korean, he tries to explain what is going on and the audience like his efforts,” Kolbinger-Reiner said.
Kim Sook-hee, artistic director and representative of the center, said they wanted to hold a festival where disabled children could actually do and feel something, not just watch.
She said, “For instance, we usually prefer to give chances for various people to enjoy the show. However, I believe there is something special about theater — it is an absolute space. They should come and directly feel what the theater is like.”
That is why Kim planned the festival at the theater of Seoul Women’s Plaza, inviting handicapped children to the playhouse.
“I want them to experience the uniqueness of theater, different from everyday life,” Kim said. “I want them to come to the festival voluntarily, joyfully. Children now wait for the festival as they do for their birthdays and holidays.”