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‘Blacklist’ actors perform against government oppression
(Gorae) |
Now, they have set up a stage of their own in Gwanghwamun Square in the heart of downtown Seoul to hit back at the government by performing precisely what it did not want to see.
Black Tent is a makeshift theater inside a giant tent that hosts plays and performances dealing with social issues.
(Gorae) |
“Censoring art is something that just cannot be. We will try our best to ensure that the people on the blacklist can work freely,” said theater director Lee Hae-seong who represents artists at the Black Tent.
Performances are scheduled this month and through February, with the artists vowing to continue performing until the fall of the Park administration.
The opening night Monday featured “Red Poem” directed by Lee Hae-seong, which deals with the issue of “comfort women” -- euphemism for women sexually enslaved by the Japanese military during World War II -- and the sex scandal involving late actress Jang Ja-yeon. In a suicide note, Jang alleged that her agency forced her to provide sexual favors to powerful men.
In December 2015, the government inked a landmark deal with Japan on the issue of former comfort women, but the deal was widely criticized as being rushed, insufficient and alienating the victims in the process.
(The Korea Herald) |
Park’s world, however, is turned upside down when the Korean version of a grim reaper mistakenly takes him instead of his grandmother. Tired of his seemingly dead-end life, he refuses to go back to his life and instead asks to just die.
After much debate, the gods of the afterworld decide to show him his life, which is entangled with the deceased actress and that of his grandmother whose past was never explained.
The play moves back and forth between the tragedy of the actress and that of the grandmother, who is later revealed to have been a teenage sex slave.
The play forces the audience to stare directly at the cycle of violence that has yet to disappear with the end of Japanese colonialism.
Overwhelmed by guilt and pain, Park begs to forget everything, but the gods persuade him not to.
“Only by remembering and talking, will it be healed,” they say.
The play attempts to offer a painful but cathartic closure to two tragic memories of Korean society.
“Red Poem” is being staged at 8 p.m. daily until Friday.
It will be followed by “Him and Her Closet” from Jan. 23-24, which will be performed by the bereaved family members of victims of the Sewol ferry disaster.
“We will continue until Park steps down and (Culture Minister) Cho Yun-sun is arrested. If they don’t, we might as well set up our own Culture Ministry right here at the plaza,” said Lee Hae-seong.
By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)