Seoul Performing Arts Festival to stage reading from Han Kang novel
Summary
The 26th Seoul Performing Arts Festival will begin on Oct. 6 in Seoul with 20 productions under the theme Multiverse of Art. The lineup includes a staged reading of the first chapter of Han Kang’s novel We Do Not Part, directed by Julie Deliquet and starring Isabelle Huppert and Lee Hye-young. The 18-day festival will run across major venues in the city and also feature workshops, lectures and roundtables.
Key Facts
- The festival is organized by the Korea Arts Management Service and launched in 2001 as an international platform for contemporary theater, dance and performance.
- SPAF will run for 18 days across venues including the National Theater of Korea, Arko and Daehangno Arts Theaters, Daehangno Theater Quad, Sogang University’s Mary Hall and NC Cultural Foundation’s Stage Black.
- The program includes Korean premieres and new local productions such as The Third War, You Cant Make a Life out of not Getting Slapped in the Face and Welcome_2026.
- La Distance is set in 2077 and follows a father on Earth and his daughter on Mars as they try to preserve their relationship across a climate-crisis-driven divide.
- Oiseau had its world premiere at France’s Festival d’Avignon in July, and the French festival selected Korean as the invited language for its 80th edition this year.
October festival brings international theater, Korean premieres, dance and interdisciplinary experiments to stages
Poster for the 26th Seoul Performing Arts Festival (SPAF) / Courtesy of SPAF
What could an opera about an imaginary war, a science fiction play about a father and daughter separated by space and a dance piece challenging ballet traditions possibly all have in common?
They are all part of the 26th Seoul Performing Arts Festival (SPAF). The festival invites audiences to put down their phones and experience art together in theaters, stepping away from the personalized digital content selected by algorithms.
Beginning on Oct. 6, the annual festival will bring 20 productions spanning theater, dance, music and interdisciplinary performances to major venues across the city under the theme “Multiverse of Art.”
“Rather than seeking a single beauty or a fixed answer, this year’s ‘Multiverse of Art’ brings together different perspectives, senses and forms of artistic creation, inviting audiences out of the isolation of individual screens and into the shared space of the theater,” artistic director Choi Kyu said at a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday.
A major highlight will be “Oiseau,” a staged reading of the first chapter of Nobel laureaute Han Kang’s novel “We Do Not Part” (2021), following its world premiere at France's Festival d'Avignon in July. Directed by Julie Deliquet, the artistic director of Paris’ Theatre Gerard Philipe, the work reunites French star Isabelle Huppert and Korean actor Lee Hye-young.
A scene from "Oiseau," a staged reading of Nobel laureate Han Kang's "We Do Not Part" with Isabelle Huppert and Lee Hye-young / Courtesy of SPAF
The French festival selected Korean as the invited language for its 80th edition this year, inviting nine Korean productions. “Oiseau" is one of five productions that are returning from Festival d'Avignon for performances in their home country.
SPAF will also present “La Distance” by Festival d’Avignon director Tiago Rodrigues. Set in 2077, the play follows a father on Earth and his daughter on Mars as they attempt to preserve their relationship across an interplanetary divide caused by a climate crisis.
Malicho Vaca Valenzuela’s “Reminiscencia,” also part of the Avignon-linked program, traces the losses and memories of revolution in Chile through a digital map detailing the lives of people in Santiago, while Riverbed Theatre’s “Blur” invites audiences into an extended-reality world where the boundaries between life, death, reality and fiction begin to dissolve.
A scene from "La Distance," a play by Tiago Rodrigues / Courtesy of SPAF
Launched in 2001 as an international platform for contemporary theater, dance and performance, SPAF seeks to connect Korean artists and audiences with global currents.
Organized by the Korea Arts Management Service, the 18-day festival will unfold across the National Theater of Korea, Arko and Daehangno Arts Theaters, Daehangno Theater Quad, Sogang University’s Mary Hall and NC Cultural Foundation’s Stage Black. Along with performances, it will host workshops, master classes, lectures and roundtables exploring artistic processes, international circulation and emerging issues in the field.
Korean premieres and new local productions will take equally prominent positions in the lineup.
“The Third War,” an opera written and directed by Park Bonn, will examine media-driven anxiety and the unstable boundaries between truth and fabrication through a fictional conflict among three nations with magic powers.
A scene from "The Third War," an opera by Park Bonn / Courtesy of SPAF
Director Koo Ja-hye’s “You Can’t Make a Life out of not Getting Slapped in the Face” will feature Saekja, one of the first openly transgender women in Korea and a veteran performer. The work focuses on her life, the overlooked histories of queer communities and state violence against sexual minorities.
The festival will also feature “Welcome_2026,” a play by 0setproject spotlighting the everyday lives of Korean families affected by social disasters and questioning the public label of “bereaved family” by presenting their varied identities, emotions and lives beyond grief.
The festival runs from Oct. 8-25. Details of the program are available here.
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