Changes to Traditional Theatre in Modern Korea
Three main primary reincarnations of traditional
theatre in modern Korea have reimagined tradition in new ways: madanggeuk,yeonhigeuk, and changgeuk.
During the Korean
pro-democracy movement activists became interested in re-appropriating Korean
tradition from government control (as registered items of protected traditional
culture), and to that end learned mask dance dramas and pungmul drumming. Motivated youth staged what appeared to be a
traditional performance, but after a crowd had amassed and the show was
underway, the traditional would often give way to a more explicit political
message. Over time these young people realized that they no longer needed to
clothe their politics within tradition and the genre madanggeuk was born. Through their connection with the
democratization movement, these plays by and large focused on spoken and mimed
messages. Due to performers’ background training in mask dance drama and pungmul and a desire to remain allied
with Korean folk culture, their plays often incorporated traditional music and
movement, with the players clad in Korean traditional clothing. In the present
day many madanggeuk are performed
without these elements, on a variety of themes limited only by the imagination
of those involved. New members of madanggeuk
troupes may never have learned pungmul
or mask dance dramas, and although some troupes explicitly continue to
incorporate tradition and train their members in these skills, others do not.
This madanggeuk performed by students of a women's university (not professionals) has lost almost all markers of tradition.
This madanggeuk maintains the various traditional trappings, but the performers are not necessarily explicitly trained in traditional performance-- they employ the markers of tradition that are useful to evoke a country bumpkin aesthetic but the emphasis is on a humorous delivery of the story. When most Koreans picture madanggeuk they picture something like this.
Although
madanggeuk originally appeared to be
the naturally evolving future of Korean traditional theatre, today yeonhi groups, or groups performing yeonhigeuk (yeonhi is a loose term for traditional folk theatre) have emerged.
One reason for the resurgence of this term is the opening of a department in yeonhi at the Korean National University
of the Arts. The department trains students in mask dance drama, pungmul, shamanic performance, and the
skills of the traditional itinerant Korean performers, the Namsadang. Yeonhi groups,
often including graduates of the university, have thorough traditional training
and reassemble various traditions into full-length shows. Many yeonhi groups create new stories as a
framework for presenting traditions they have learned. Instead of limiting
themselves to one art or one genre (such as a single village’s pungmul style or one traditional folk
dance), they combine styles and genres in a single show. This may include the
lion dance from Bongsan’s mask dance drama, the spinning disks from Namsadang, drumming in a pan-regional
style, and newly coined humorous dialogue delivered in a traditional style.
I really want to show you a specific video that perfectly encapsulates yeonhigeuk -- but for some reason I cannot embed it. Please visit it here.
I really want to show you a specific video that perfectly encapsulates yeonhigeuk -- but for some reason I cannot embed it. Please visit it here.
Finally,
changgeuk is the re-staging of the
epic pansori tales that were originally
sung by a solo singer accompanied by a drummer. In changgeuk, similar to an opera or a musical, each character is voiced by a different singer on an
often elaborate set with props. Changgeuk
were first staged in the early twentieth century and contributed to the
ongoing success of the pansori genre by
providing an alternative setting in which to hear the distinctive singing
style. When staging pansori as changgeuk, the music expands from a single drummer to include multiple Korean
traditional instruments, and other traditional arts such as dance may be
presented in a scene only briefly described in the original tale. Newly
composed changgeuk that are not based
on the traditional pansori epics have
been less successful.
This video is from a production of the National Changgeuk Company's performance of a changgeuk of the pansori tale of Shim Cheong.
