Fortress theater festival expands to art and film

An international theater festival that opens Wednesday combines both domestic and foreign performances as well as ceramic, textile and metallic arts exhibitions, and independent film screenings.
The Ninth Suwon Hwaseong Fortress Theatre Festival will be held from Aug. 17 to 28 at the 200-year-old Hwaseong Fortress, a Unesco World Heritage site, in the city of Suwon, south of Seoul.
The festival features four foreign theater groups. In Jangan Park, Friches Theatre Unbain from France will perform their version of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” on Aug. 27 and 28. The story of the struggle for power amid treachery and betrayal in Scotland will feature fireworks displays at the climax of each performance.
The Lithuanian State Youth Theatre will present “The Taming of the Shrew,” another Shakespearean work, about a husband and his outspoken wife, on Aug. 23 and 24 at the Gyeonggi Arts Center. At the same venue Moscow’s Zehobach Studio will stage “The Boys,” based on Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov” on Aug 26 and 27.
The Pacific Comedia Troupe from the United States and the Dolgoji Theatre will perform a co-production of “Birds in the DMZ,” which shows the effects of wars and destruction of the environment through the eyes of birds, on Aug. 23 and 24 inside Hwaseong Fortress.
Traditional music and dance will be performed by America Taky, a Native American group, and Kury-Wayra from Ecuador.
Among Korea theater performances, the National Capital Association is going to present “The Song My Mother Has Taught Me,” written by novelist Choe In-ho and directed by award-winning director Choi Yong-hun.
The Ganda theater group will stage “Mirror Princess, Pyoung-gang,” an a cappella musical about a maid of Princess Pyoung-gang, who creates her own kingdom in the forest. The award-winning play, “Give a Kiss, Faust” by the Sajo Theater, is about an old man, Min, who gradually finds a way out of solitude after meeting a maid.
The art exhibitions will be held at the Suwon Art Center and the screening of award-winning independent films at the Suwon Outdoor Concert Hall.
The festival’s opening ceremony is at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday with a performance by Kury-Wayra at the Suwon Outdoor Concert Hall. The performances that evening include dance and music by America Taky and excerpts from the musicals “The Phantom of the Opera” and “The Last Empress.”

by Limb Jae-un

Only Korean subtitles will be provided. For more information, call (031) 238-5740 or go to theatre.shcf.or.kr on the Web (some English available).