An intimate, small-scale performance of the changgeuk "Master Ahn Sook-sun, A Tale of Rabbit and Turtle" will be staged at the National Gugak Center in southern Seoul from Oct. 22 to 26.
While changgeuk (traditional Korean opera) has been following a trend of becoming large-scale and westernized, this upcoming performance based on a popular Korean fable has returned to the roots of traditional opera and pansori, a Korean genre of musical storytelling.
The performances will be held in the Pungryu Love Theatre, a small venue with only 130 seats where audience members take off their shoes and sit on cushions on the floor. Without any professional sound system, the theatre will provide a cozy atmosphere for viewers to engage in the drama and music.
To further capture the viewer's interest, the singers will sing in "bunchang," a divided-role singing technique in which one singer takes on many different roles and performs different parts. In this performance, seven singers will take on 10 different roles.
The art director of the National Gugak Center and one of the finest pansori singers today, Ahn Sook-sun, will play three roles ― the master, turtle's mother and turtle's wife. She commented on her choice of the story, "the turtle's faithfulness in saving the Dragon King and the rabbit's shrewd attempts to escape crisis resemble the very nature of humans."
The opera premiered in May to sold-out performances.
While changgeuk (traditional Korean opera) has been following a trend of becoming large-scale and westernized, this upcoming performance based on a popular Korean fable has returned to the roots of traditional opera and pansori, a Korean genre of musical storytelling.
The performances will be held in the Pungryu Love Theatre, a small venue with only 130 seats where audience members take off their shoes and sit on cushions on the floor. Without any professional sound system, the theatre will provide a cozy atmosphere for viewers to engage in the drama and music.
To further capture the viewer's interest, the singers will sing in "bunchang," a divided-role singing technique in which one singer takes on many different roles and performs different parts. In this performance, seven singers will take on 10 different roles.
The art director of the National Gugak Center and one of the finest pansori singers today, Ahn Sook-sun, will play three roles ― the master, turtle's mother and turtle's wife. She commented on her choice of the story, "the turtle's faithfulness in saving the Dragon King and the rabbit's shrewd attempts to escape crisis resemble the very nature of humans."
The opera premiered in May to sold-out performances.
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