Renovated National Theater of Korea optimized for Korean traditional sound

The Haeoreum Grand Theater of the National Theater of Korea (NTOK) / Courtesy of NTOK

By Park Ji-won

The Haeoreum Grand Theater of the National Theater of Korea (NTOK) is set to open after a four-year renovation with facilities more conducive to Korean traditional music.

The first large repair of the theater since 1973 focused on boosting sound quality and stage construction, by spending 65.8 billion won ($58 million).

“We made the theater optimized to listen to natural sound without any speakers for traditional music performances and shows,” NTOK CEO Kim Cheol-ho reportedly said. “We hope we would be able to offer more modernized and high-quality performances with the new theater.”

An NTOK official said, “We tried to eliminate blind spots and gave up the stereo system so that sounds can reach out to every seat.”

To improve the sound, it installed 48 acoustic banners that can control the time of reverberation or fade out sound. The sound lasted 1.35 seconds in the past, but with the new installment, it can stay for 1.65 seconds.

In terms of electronic sounds, the theater introduced an “immersive surround sound system” for the first time in Korea by installing up to 132 speakers.

The theater also narrowed the size of the stage, which had been optimized for kabuki performances. In 1973 when the theater was moved to the current location, it had to introduce the stage based on the blueprint for kabuki theaters as the country did not have enough know-how to build a theater. But as the stage was designed for kabuki theater, it was too big for Korean performances.

In the new theater, the width of the stage was downsized from 22.4 meters to between 12.6 meters and 17 meters. The theater also eliminated the revolving stage, while introducing four elevating stages. The number of seats was also reduced to 1,221 from 1,563.

The art company will run a performance of the pansori play, “Suggung-ga,” at the theater in June as a trial run. It will officially run the theater from September.