Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| A scene from National Changgeuk Company of Korea's 'Poetry' / Courtesy of National Theater of Korea |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
How would Chilean poet Pablo Neruda's rhyming verses sound in "pansori," a form of traditional Korean narrative singing?
"Poetry," a new changgeuk, a type of theater style based on pansori, brings in Neruda's passionate poetry exploring love, loss, hope, life and death sung through pansori vocal techniques.
The National Changgeuk Company of Korea (NCCK) picked director Park Ji-hye to work on the third piece of the "Different Angle on Changgeuk" series. Director Park works mainly with Yangson Project, a collaboration between her and actors Son Sang-kyu, Yang Jo-ah and Yang Jong-ook, and has experiences in pansori working with pansori performer Lee Ja-ram in "The Stranger's Song" and "An Ugly Person/Murder."
For this new project, playwright and director Park challenged the unexpected blend of pansori with poetry in the form of changgeuk.
"I think pansori can be combined with a variety of literary genres. Previously in the Different Angle on Changgeuk series, the French children's tale 'Little Red Riding Hood' and science fiction novella 'The Only Neat Thing to Do' by James Tiptree Jr. were turned into changgeuk. As I pondered on, an expectation on the combination of poetry and pansori grew up and I thought poetry could create an unusual narrative style in changgeuk form," director Park said.
 |
| Yu Tae-pyung-yang performs in a scene from National Changgeuk Company of Korea's 'Poetry.' / Courtesy of National Theater of Korea |
Among numerous poets around the world, Park picked Neruda for his dynamic and vigorous poetic diction. "I read most of Neruda's poems translated into Korean. The poems that intrigued me the most were Fully Empowered and Poetry as they recited the circle of life. I excluded political ones to concentrate on the theme of life," Park said.
"Poetry" is totally unlike changgeuk in which a narrator tells the story and actors play certain characters. Instead, the performers interpret Neruda's poetry with their bodies and voices in "Poetry."
The bleak white set reminds of a mess after a party with a table full of empty bottles and scattered dishes. Balloons fly and firecrackers go off in the room, while four party animals go in and out of the room, singing Neruda's poems in pansori style.
Pansori performers of the NCCK Yu Tae-pyung-yang and Jang Seo-yoon joined hands with actors Yang Jong-ook and Yang Jo-ah for the four nameless people in totally different styles.
Instead of traditional narrative storytelling, "Poetry" tells of life through Neruda's poetic lines, reconstructed for pansori by performers as well as co-pansori composer Lee Ja-ram. There's no narrative arc and performers pop up from a window or appear through a glitter curtain behind a door, singing and reading Neruda's poetry and capturing crucial moments of life such as birth, love, war, breakup and extinction.
 |
| A scene from National Changgeuk Company of Korea's 'Poetry' / Courtesy of National Theater of Korea |
Performer Yu said he learned to feel the poetry as it is, instead of memorizing standardized interpretations of poems.
"I didn't like poetry very much when young, but working in Poetry made me feel and experience poems and express the feelings through my body and voice. It was interesting to sense the poetry," Yu said.
"Previously, I played certain characters in changgeuk and I tried to think what the character would do. However, for Poetry, I had to be me and making this changgeuk was a very personal experience as even all the creators had different thoughts and ideas on the same poem. We had to interpret it by ourselves. There is no definite plot synopsis in Poetry, but please listen to the song of Neruda's poems and take a private journey to your poetic world," performer Jang said.
The changgeuk wraps up with "Farewell," reading "Farewell, To the dim stage of all partings, To the chair, part of this dimness, To the road made by my shoes, Farewell."
"Poetry" runs through Jan. 26. Visit ntok.go.kr for more information.
