Director: Tarumi Ryuji
Playwright: Chung Eun Kyung
Institution: Department of Theatre, Nihon University College of Art, Japan
Venue: North Theatre
Time: 16:30~18:30, May 21, 2010
Event: ATEC 5th International Forum with the 1st Asian Theatre Schools Festival
Director’s Notes
As a director of this performance, I focused on recreating ‘Chung Hyang Jeon’, which is a popular Korean traditional musical, in a modern way with Japanese traditional style by using various methods such as Japanese style of choreography.
This play is a collaborative project with the staff and cast from different cultural backgrounds, meeting the definition of ‘International Theatre Festival’. Due to a large variety of opinion, lots of adjustments had to be made, however, the understanding of each one’s culture made this performance this far. Please look forward to seeing how the story goes.
Synopsis
Haruka was born in Nam-Won city, Jeon-Ra province, South Korea. Her father was a noble while her mother was a Gi-Seang (Korean geisha). Haruka was absolutely beautiful and she was good at writing poems as well as calligraphy.
Ryu, the son of a noble, went up to the top of Gwang Han Roo(a palace in Nam-Won city) on a fine day in spring to read a poem while enjoying the beautiful scenery around. Then he noticed Haruka on the swing far away.
Ryu fell in love with Haruka at first sight. He went to meet her later that night to let her know how much he loves her and they promised each other to be together, forever.
After several days, Ryu had to move to another city, due to his father’s promotion. He had to leave Haruka behind, but Haruka was waiting for him to call her to come live with him.
A new mayor named Byun Hak Do came to town. He did not care much about the politics rather he was fooling around with Gi-Saengs. He gathered every Gi-Saeng in the city to find the most beautiful one among them but he could not find the one he was interested in. Then he heard that a girl named Haruka is the most beautiful girl in town, and he asked his servants to bring her to him. When his servants finally brought her to Byun, he forced Haruka to be his women. However...