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| Kim Hyung-tae, front, artistic director of social enterprise Hab Good Village, plays Yongpal-ee in the madangnori (traditional performance) "Dragon Hunters." It has been performed every Saturday at the Korean Traditional Culture Center in Jeonju Hanok Village of the southern city since May. / Courtesy of Hab Good Village |
Hilarious, educating madangnori 'Dragon Hunters' woos foreign tourists
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Traditional performance "Dragon Hunters" revolves around four main characters searching for a dragon, hoping to make a fortune.
Although it tells the story of people chasing after money, the performance rarely seems materialistic. In the traditional open space musical, the dragon hunters are hilarious rather than greedy or self-absorbed.
As opposed to seeking wealth out of a sense of greed, the four dragon hunters plan to use the sizeable financial compensation they hope to get by catching the mythical creature to solve different pressing issues they are facing.
"Dragon Hunters" is a hilarious and educational performance. Its genre is madangnori, a combined Korean word of madang (front yard) and nori (play) referring to a traditional performance conducted in an open space.
In the play, the four dragon hunters arrive in a small village in the southern city of Jeonju upon hearing rumors of a dragon living there.
Samsik-ee, a single man, wants to get married but has no house. He searches for the dragon to make money to buy his own home, one of the conditions that will make him an eligible bachelor. Another dragon hunter Yi-ppunee is a female character suffering in an appearance-oriented society. Unemployed for many years due to her unattractive physical appearance, she seeks to use her fortune to spend during the rest of her life. Her uncle, Yong-palee, joins the journey to help his poor niece. There's one more dragon hunter whose parents in their 80s suddenly have a baby and this new sibling is the reason that motivates him to embark on the dragon hunt.
All four of them spend three years searching in vain for a dragon.
Their eventual arrival in Jeonju excites the villagers who believe the local economy, particularly the service sector, will benefit from the outsiders.
"Dragon Hunters is a story about hope," Kim Hyung-tae, artistic director of the social enterprise Hab Good Village, a production house of the madangnori performance, told The Korea Times over the phone, "All of us have had or still have dreams. For some, there is a big gap between our lofty goals and the reality, so achieving our dreams is nearly impossible. The dragon in the performance symbolizes a dream that remains unachievable."
To help audiences relate to the characters, Kim said he adapted the story and included pressing contemporary issues, such as unemployment, strict beauty standards and housing problems, for each character.
In addition to directing the musical, Kim also plays Yong-palee.
Like other madangnori performances, "Dragon Hunters" is boisterous and flamboyant. The traditional musical is satirical as each character's motives are rooted in social issues that press ordinary citizens hard in their daily lives.
"Dragon Hunters" gives its audiences a rare chance to peek into local culture. One of the homegrown cultural traditions featured in the performance is a "gijeop" play. It's a type of play local people formerly enjoyed during the short summer festival that began on July 15 on the lunar calendar. Villagers would show up holding flags bearing emblems of their villages and socialize with others while sharing food and desserts.
Since it premiered in 2015 at the National Theater of Korea, "Dragon Hunters" has been performed for five years in Jeonju Hanok Village. It is one of the most popular shows among Korean tourists. Before COVID-19, every show would attract some 100 spectators in the relatively small venue.
This year has been tough for the performers. Like other art or music performances, "Dragon Hunters" has gone online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, being performed in an audience-free setting on the outdoor stage of the Jeonju Traditional Culture Center in the compound of Jeonju Hanok Village.
The performers hope to attract foreign tourists to the traditional performance once social distancing is over.
"Jeonju Hanok Village is a popular place for foreign tourists. From next year, we hope they can find time to visit our show to discover lesser-known local culture," Kim said. "To welcome foreign audiences, we prepared a little trick in English in the latter part of our show. It's a punchline."
From May this year, "Dragon Hunters" has been performed every Saturday. The last performance of the year will be held on Oct. 10.
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