| Scenes from "Red Cliff" / Korea Times video by Choi Won-suk |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
The dynamic battle of Red Cliffs became a performance combining "pansori" (Korean traditional narrative music) and powerful choreography at the Jeongdong Theater in central Seoul.
While traditional pansori is commonly decried as outdated and boring these days, the Jeongdong production condensed the contents to 90 minutes and added contemporary choreography.
Jeongdong Theater president Son Sang-won said the year 2018 will be a year of change for the downtown theater, which revamped its program completely.
Established in 1995, the Jeongdong Theater is a restitution of Wongaksa, the first modern theater in Korea. It has been a popular venue, but as the theater focused on attracting foreign tourists in the mid-2000s with permanent traditional shows, it became forgotten among local theatergoers.
Son, who took office in 2016, brought changes to the theater, bringing in new repertoires.
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| A scene from "Red Cliff" / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
"'Red Cliff' is based on 'Jeokbyeokga' (The Song of the Red Cliffs) one of the five surviving stories of the pansori tradition. Our rendition of 'Red Cliff' is more dynamic with modern twists," Son said at a press rehearsal of the show, Wednesday.
"Red Cliff" premiered in 2017 and received acclaim for its novel attempts and returned for its second year with improved choreography and costumes.
The plot follows the famous Battle of the Red Cliffs, starting with the Oath of the Peach Garden, in which Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei take an oath of fraternity.
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| A scene from "Red Cliff" / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
The production also breaks gender boundaries. Liu Bei's main advisor Zhuge Liang is portrayed by a female performer.
The famous tale of Liu Bei paying three visits to recruit Zhuge Liang is depicted in the performance and the audiences become pleasantly surprised as a female as Zhuge Liang walks through the aisle of the house to the stage.
Director Jung Ho-bung said though the story is set in ancient China, it can resonate well with Korean audiences and international visitors alike as the performance emphasized the humane qualities of the heroes.
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| A scene from "Red Cliff" / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
Indeed, the scenes of Guan Yu capturing and releasing Cao Cao and Liu Bei and Zhang Fei keeping their vow and taking the side of Guan Yu are portrayed with importance.
In "Red Cliff," pansori goes well with contemporary choreography, inspired by ordinary yet playful movements, taking audiences to the heart of the war. While breathing modern elements into the traditional story, the witty and subtle nuance of pansori are well presented in the scenes such as Cao Cao inspecting his surviving soldiers after being attacked.
The set is rather simple with white slopes and a band on the stage, but this year's production has revamped costumes to look sleeker and more modern. Performers wear black and white costumes with angled details and Cao Cao and his soldiers wear elements of red to distinguish themselves.
The most important prop in this minimalist show is a fan in each performer's hand. The fan symbolizes war as it represents many different things by how the actors use them from spears and shields to the southeastern wind summoned by Zhuge Liang, which sets Cao Cao's fleet ablaze, and the fervent flame.
A five-member live band ― percussion, ajaeng (seven-stringed bowed zither), daegeum (bamboo flute), synthesizer and piri (pipe) and drum ― accompany the performance.
"Red Cliff" runs through April 15. For more information, visit www.jeongdong.or.kr or call 02-751-1500.
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