Song Bo-ra tackles 'Hamlet' through pansori

Song Bo-ra in a scene from "Pansori Hamlet" / Courtesy of Taroo

By Kwon Mee-yoo

“Pansori” (Korean traditional narrative music) performer Song Bo-ra is Hamlet, Ophelia, Claudius, Polonius, Laertes and Gertrude in a revamped version of “Pansori Hamlet” by Taroo, staged at the Yeonwoo Theater in central Seoul from Friday to Sunday.

Song is a member of Taroo, formerly the Korean Traditional Musical Collective Taroo, which has a wide repertoire of contemporary pansori performances based on Korean traditional stories and Western tales under its belt.

“Pansori Hamlet,” one of Taroo's major productions, premiered in 2012 with support from the Doosan Art Lab. The original production, developed and staged for over seven years, was created for four actors taking turns playing roles in Shakespeare's masterpiece.

This year, it was reborn as the one-hander “Pansori Hamlet ― Song Bo-ra,” returning to the original format of pansori, in which a sorikkun (singer) conveys the story playing all the oles, accompanied by a “gosu” (drummer).

Though she originally pursued traditional pansori, Song was fascinated by the joy of acting and joined Taroo.

“At first, I was excited to perform pansori with my contemporaries, wearing contemporary costumes and playing certain roles with singing and dancing,” Song said in an email interview with The Korea Times. “Then I realized that pansori is not just singing, but telling stories. Any story can be told in the form of pansori and it enlightened me.”

The Shakespeare tragedy and the Korean format of pansori might not at first thought seem to be a match made in heaven, but the long monologues reflecting the complex inner turmoil of the characters go well with pansori's rhythmic nature.

"When we first created it back in 2012, we improvised monologues in pansori style, and the old-fashioned style of translation went well with pansori,” Song said. “We developed Jinhon-ga [requiem] and Yeoja-ga [woman's song] from monologues, and Gyeltu-ga [fight song] from the final duel between Hamlet and Laertes.”

Song Bo-ra in a scene from "Pansori Hamlet" / Courtesy of Taroo

As the new production is now a one-person play, the Danish prince Hamlet, who agonizes over his father's death, takes the center, instead of showing a variety of characters by four performers in the previous version.

“In this version, most characters or scenes are seen from Hamlet or the narrator's perspective,” Song said. “For instance, the ghost of Hamlet's father is interpreted as he sometimes possesses Hamlet's body.”

“Pansori Hamlet ― Song Bo-ra” emphasizes the role of the sole performer who narrates, acts and sings for 80 minutes.

“I didn't expect this version of the show to me named after me,” Song said. “Now, with my name in the title, I feel more responsible for the show and have bigger gratitude and affection for those who are working with me, including gosu Seo Eo-jin and pianist Jeong Han-nah.”

With the pianist joining the performance, “Pansori Hamlet” has become richer in music.

“The sound of piano can make pansori much more diverse,” Song said. “Usually, I first compose pansori and Jeong adds music, but for the scene in which Hamlet decides to take vengeance, Jeong composed the music first and I layered pansori on it. I think it ended up more dramatic.”

Song believes that making interesting stories into compelling pansori performances would popularize the genre and reach a wider audience.

“I believe that pansori has the power and charm to tell all kinds of stories in an interesting way,” Song said. “I hope Pansori Hamlet can play a role in making more people listen to and take an interest in pansori.”

Another tale Song wants to tell in the format of pansori is Martin Sherman's play “Rose,” the story of a Jewish woman who survives a concentration camp.

“I traveled to Germany, Poland and Denmark with director Park Sun-hee and other colleagues in 2017, and concentration camps in Sachsenhausen and Auschwitz and the Jewish Museum touched me, somewhat reminding of Korea under Japanese colonial rule,” Song said. “I discovered Rose later and want to convey the story of her through pansori.”