 |
| The poster for the play, "Ten Million Cities," by the Seoul Metropolitan Theatre / Seoul Metropolitan Theatre |
By Park Ji-won
The play "Ten Million Cities" will spotlight the diversity in Seoul residents' lives, during its run at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts from Sept. 3 to 19.
Directed by Park Hae-seong and written by Jeon Sung-hyun, the play focuses on reflecting a wide range of experiences in Seoulites' everyday lives. Therefore, instead of having a lead role and a central storyline, it stages 47 scenes with a variety of characters and situations that can be encountered on a daily basis. The play, run by Seoul Metropolitan Theatre, a theater troupe at the Sejong Center, also features characters that cannot be categorized according to age, gender, nationality or disability, while adding spice to the show via the music of music director and composer Kayip.
The scenes, for example, include a resident walking their dog, a customer buying a ticket and people getting lost in the street.
 |
| A scene from the play "Ten Million Cities" by Seoul Metropolitan Theatre / Seoul Metropolitan Theatre |
"We started this journey with the theme of Seoul. How can we sense that we are living in the same city even though we are living in different moments and have different stories? … There are many moments we don't remember, as there are so many different things (going on). But this big city is comprised of all those moments. There is one city and there are millions of lives. As your universe (the city) is huge, just like mine, we easily get lost in our own worlds. But we may be able to meet in a kind of shared city if we pay attention to each other's moments," Seoul Metropolitan Theatre wrote in the synopsis of the play.
To better reflect the lives of Seoulites, it conducted a research study one year ago, and interviewed 18 residents of different ages and jobs over the last four months.
The theater troupe also introduced a new kind of "barrier-free" production. As the members of the cast include a diverse range of Seoulites, such as residents of foreign nationality and disabled residents, it tried to make the production environment accessible to every participant by offering, for example, wheelchair ramps and a sign language interpreter.
The play will provide Korean subtitles in every show as well as audio commentary and sign language translation service in six of the performances. Those who wish to experience the performance via audio commentary should make a reservation by phone.
![[INTERVIEW] Risk-averse culture is forcing daring creators to flee showbiz](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/fb7596db1256425b9ccd448392d51be8.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] 'Coexistence of different art hubs across Asia is necessary': Art Week Tokyo Director](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/5e1f02ba859b44428a31a10c6ec2a2ea.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] With '30 Days,' Kang Ha-neul finds new level of comfort in acting](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/83a5770de8d8420da3634fb8b78266c1.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] ONEUS returns as 'mermaid prince'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/8cc3b8d992cd4b8bb43395b014670ca2.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
