By Alan Green
Contributing Writer
Korea's only professional English-language performance company, Latt Children's Theater (LATTCT), has just kicked off its latest tour.
Their new production, ``Strange Soup,'' performed in English with some Korean, is an exciting science fiction musical that takes children on an incredible journey through space as the crew of the Spaceship Imagination try to save the planet Earth by making the soup of imagination, Strange Soup.
The piece is a recipe book of ``musically rich and eloquent'' stories drawn from ancient Korean and Celtic traditions.
Some of these stories are ``endangered tales'' with an unknown future and others have centuries of popularity to give them strength. Together these stories intertwine to illustrate the Strange Soup narrative.
The story begins as the Spaceship Imagination takes to the stars. The captain of the ship is a magical woman who makes the soup of imagination. If this soup ever runs dry so too will the imaginations of all the people of the world.
The crew of the Spaceship Imagination includes Navee, the ship's voice who is part man and part machine with a mind of music and the soul of an enthusiastic child; Abe the engineer is new to the job and under Navee's keen tuition is finding the task stranger and more dangerous than he could ever imagine.
As this crazy story begins to brew, other characters are conjured by the captain to help illustrate the stories and songs that season the soup. Meet the Twins, created when too much of the strong ingredients are added.
These two are mischief made flesh and nearly cause a disaster that may destroy both the soup and the ship.
The Animal Man, an anthropomorphic mish mash created by the mischievous Twins, is himself a source of some very unsavory and funny events as the crew lurch between disaster and success.
The audience is conscripted from the start of the show and invited to join this eccentric team. Telling stories, surviving dangerous situations, and eventually working together to make the Strange Soup that feeds the world's imagination.
Contemporary and traditional music and instruments underscore a performance inspired by the traditions of conventional storytelling and Steam Punk art.
Real time and recorded video create a world where the audience sees itself in a new context, fusing actors and audience into the world of the Spaceship Imagination and her odd crew.
Later when the strange soup is complete, and celebrations begin, the audience is invited onto the stage and the soup is shared amongst everybody.
LATTCT was conceived and launched in 2002 as a venue dedicated to producing and presenting world-class English language performances for young audiences.
The theater has been designed by a highly experienced team of theatre designers and arts practitioners from Korea and combines rehearsal and recording studios, administration, costume and performance spaces within one building.
It is this imagination that we utilize to create beauty and solve the problems of our world.
Artists are recruited from around the world and combine with the best of Korea's design and technical talents to create shows rich with imagery and music where every word, image and action enhances the meaning and shrugs aside the restrictions of language.
LATTCT operates as a professional repertory company with an annual program of in-house performances and workshops combined with a national touring program.
Strange Soup arrives in Jeonju, at the Sori Arts Center of North Jeolla Province, on Jan. 16 and 17 and will then move onto Changwon, Daegu, Busan, Gwangju and wrap up the tour from Feb 26 to 28 in Daejeon.
Tickets cost 30,000 won and children must be over 3 years old to enter. There is a 20-percent discount for LATTCT members and a 10-percent discount for new members.
The LATTCT web site, www.lattct.com, has booking information for Strange Soup as well as more on the company and what they offer. The web site is in both Korean and English.