Snowshow gives chance to forget summer heat

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Snowshow gives chance to forget summer heat

With this steamy weather, even a drop of rain is appreciated. So how about a snowstorm?
Slava’s Snowshow is returning to Seoul: It previously sold out here in 2001, 2003 and 2004. On midsummer nights, the comic, Olivier Award-winning Russian mime performance should be able to relieve the heat for at least 80 minutes.
The snow will lie on the floor, and from time to time, fall on the heads of the audience. The clowns, including Slava Polunin, play with the snowflakes and throw them to the audience. Teardrops on a letter that Polunin, the director and one of the actors, is reading also turn to snowflakes then become a snowstorm that blows on the audience. But don’t worry about getting wet: the snow is actually white paper.
The show also features much audience participation. The clowns utilize both the stage and the audience seats; a clown “kidnaps” an audience member ― taking him or her backstage then returning with what appears to be the victim’s underwear ― and throw huge balloons to the audience at the end of the show. There are no words spoken during the show, but the clowns communicate well without them.
Polunin is one of Russia’s most famous clowns, who updated the traditional clown style to become part of the modern genre.
Slava’s Snowshow received an Edinburgh Festival Critics Award in 1996, a Golden Mask Award in 1998 and a Sand New York Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience in 2005, as well as the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment in 1998.


by Park Sung-ha

The show runs at the LG Arts Center, southern Seoul, Yeoksam subway station, line No. 2, exit 7, from Tuesday through Aug. 27. Shows begin at 8 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays, and 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on weekends. On Tuesday, the National Liberation Day holiday, the show will start at 7 p.m. There is no show on Mondays. Tickets cost 20,000 won ($21), 40,000 won and 60,000 won. For more information, call (02) 2005-0114, or visit www.lgart.com. Children seven years old or older can view the performance. Students get a 20-percent discount but the discount is limited to 100 people each show.
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