theater

written and directed/ Kim Kwang Lim

assistant director/ Bun Jung Joo 

choreograph/ Choe Jang Min  / Park Jun Mi

set design/  Choe Eun Joo  make up/ Lee Dong Min 

music/ Choe Young Suk / Kim Dong Kun / Lee Ccot Byel / Lee Sang Ho

16 actors

where and when 

Seoul Art Center 2002 / Theater Reel Festival Russia 2003  / Beseto Theater Festival Korea 2003  /  Seoul International Performing Art Festival (Ensemble Award) 2003  /  Theatre du Soleil Paris France 2004

synopsis

Inspired from a true story from the Choseon dynasty. General Lee Sun Kai was promised the throne by a shaman, but she warned him that “Wuturi” will also be king. Lee Sung Kai ordered all babies to be killed.  The general finds Wuturi ‘s mother, but the baby giant has left home just three days after his birth. He is a monster with wings.  At his request, she gave him millet, buckwheat and hamp. The mother will eventually be pregnant with Lee sung Kai’s baby. Wuturi went to the east and is hiding under a rock in the sea. The general’s soldiers pursue him. Wuturi made an army out of the presents that his mother gave him. Wuturi and his army finally are killed and Lee Sung Kai is made king, but Wuturi’s spirit remains in the heart of the people, and the weeds (symbolizing his army) grow back every year to warn the king.

 artistic statement

In Korea, all traditional theatre disappeared to be replaced by western type theatre. Kim Kwang Lim attempted to restore the great vocabulary of Korean ancestral theater rooted in music, dancing, story telling, mask dance and martial arts. “Wuturi” represent the spirit of the common people. He is physically killed but his spirit remains to haunt the king.  This story could be a modern parable to the Japanese occupation and the military dictatorship that soon followed the Korean war. Wuturi’s mother, not only sells her son’s hiding place, she also becomes pregnant with the general ‘s baby.  The life of the poor people is so low, that they will do anything to survive.  At the end people give warning to the king but whenever he moves, they hide.  Kim Kwang Lim is using an old folk story to criticize the behavior of Korean people in the face of adversary.

reviews 

funding

touring conditions

100 minutes without intermission

25 people to travel:

16 actors

4 musicians

1 lighting designer

1 assistant

1 producer

1 director

1 make up artist

set/ big puppet, big screen

easy and light to travel

for financial information please contact producer Kim Okjin at   jin42nd@paran.com