By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Korea, China and Japan share many things from political, economical and historical to cultural backgrounds probably because of regional vicinity. To take a close look at their contemporary needs in the current theater scene, the Doosan Art Center will present a Korean, Chinese and Japanese play series titled "In-In-In," which means people from three countries.
China has witnessed the economic growth since its reform movement in 1978 but also suffers a growing gap between the rich and poor and regional imbalanced development as Japan and Korea do.
Chinese play, "Rhinoceros in Love" written by Liao Yimei describes the love of a rhinoceros feeder for a beautiful woman. He immediately falls in love with her but she is too cold-hearted to return his love, so he kidnaps her out of desperation. The drama symbolizes love's blindness which is like a rhinoceros's poor eyesight.
The Chinese play displays individuals' internal struggles as well as love and also touching upon social environment and class divide against the backdrop of soft rock tunes performed by a live band and visual effects.
The work has changed the contemporary Chinese theater paradigm that was used for political propaganda and people's enlightenment in the past.
Yimei was acclaimed for her works "Amber, "Stolen Life" and "Chicken Poets."
The play has flourished for ten years since its debut at a small theater in Beijing. Since then the classic drama has been staged more than 260 times for over 200,000 spectators nationwide. Over 1,000 versions of the story have been performed on about 200 university campuses.
In the series, the play will be directed by Park Jung-hee and staged from April 6 to May 2.
Japanese play, "A Long Night in the Tropics" written by Oriza Hirata portrays today's Japanese lives saddened with the current social problems such as immigration after retirement and solitude.
The play is set in a Malaysian resort where Japanese retirees live together. They spend their time in walking, playing golf and tennis and swimming but they eat Japanese food and watch Japanese films and dramas. But they don't want to return home.
The show deals with their loneliness as a universal problem facing all human beings regardless of nationality and generation.
Hirata has grown from a leader of Japan's small theater scene with his "contemporary colloquial theater" in the 1990s to become active in multiple fields as a playwright, director, manager of a private-sector small theater, artistic director of public arts and culture hall and a university professor.
He is in line with "quiet theater" movement of the 1990s, which seeks inspiration in contemporary Japanese society and carries a meticulous acting methodology.
The play will be presented by veteran director Park Geun-hyung and staged from May 11 to June 6.
Korean play, "Mermaid City," the last work of the series project, written and directed by Ko Sun-woong, deals with various social ills in Korea such as aging society, gap between the rich and poor and suicide.
The story revolves around patients in a hospital where mermaids live in a nearby reservoir. Mermaids sing for patients who are about to die. Patients are strongly obsessed with fear between life and death. The play focuses on death but is melt in a black comedy.
The play will be staged from June 15 to July 11.
Tickets cost 30,000 won for each show and 58,500 won for the series package. For more information, call (02) 708-5001 or visit www.doosanartcenter.com.