Action-packed office life show hits Seoul
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A scene from “BLAM!” / Courtesy of LG Arts Center
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Koreans are known to have some of the longest working hours in the world. So for office workers who struggle through mundane 9-to-5 jobs every day, Danish troupe Neander Theatre brings an ingeniously funny show about office life, "BLAM!," to Korea.
Staged at Seoul's LG Arts Center from June 11-14, "BLAM!" is an action-packed performance set in office cubicles. The term action and office might seem poles apart, but Kristjan Ingimarsson of the Neander Theatre Company
the creator, director and star of the show
disagrees.
"BLAM!” transforms the energy of an action movie into theatrical language. "An action movie is not something natural, but it is highly explosive," Ingimarsson said in a phone interview with The Korea Times, Tuesday. "There is this coolness in the way they walk, the way they look into the camera and the way scenes are filmed in slow motion."
Then Ingimarsson thought it would be fun to reprise it in office. "An office is totally different from action movies
it is full of rules and regulations,” the actor-director said. “So an action movie in an office is a revolution to a normal 9-to-5 working day."
Ingimarsson is an artist based in the field of visual theater and seems to be far from living a boring office life.
"I've been running a troupe for a long time and unfortunately it means much office work when you have a theater company,” he said. “I know what office work is about, and it is a big part of our life. It is strange that people allow all these cubicles and rules to restrain them
they think it's normal to do that. For me, it's not normal. For me, having fun is normal. So it is a bit of revolution, breaking free from everyday life."
The show's title comes from the onomatopoeia describing a gunshot in comics, which is also frequent in action movies, hinting at the physical, explosive nature of the performance.
"The show is about four office workers who love action movies,” Ingimarsson said. “They start filming each other as heroes from action movies when their boss is out of the office."
Basically the performance is a mash-up of household names such as "Die Hard," "Rambo," Jackie Chan, Antonio Banderas and Arnold Schwarzenegger. "Each employee brings his own hero, but we do not reprise scenes from particular movies, but reiterate the stylized movement from action movies in general."
Some of the characters took inspiration from his co-stars. "Didier Oberle is all about Jackie Chan and he created most of the Chan scenes," Ingimarsson said.
The show became a sleeper hit at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013 and has traveled the globe, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and New Zealand.
Ingimarsson said the show resonates with the audience regardless of their nationality as they universally understand what happens in an office and watch action movies.
"I think everybody can enjoy the show,” he said. “It is easy for people to follow
we are not just about action, but have a story. People can also put themselves into the characters. I played once in Korea in 2008 and they seemed to be a good audience. They are crazy enough to engage with what they like."
Tickets cost from 30,000 to 70,000 won. For more information, visit
or call (02) 2005-0114.