Pictured here is a scene from the musical “Hero,” which is about Korean patriot Ahn Jung-geun. To mark the centennial anniversary of the March First Independence Movement in 1919 and the establishment of the Korean government in exile, a number of theatrical works this year will feature the stories of Korea’s pro-independence fighters. (Acom)
By Kim Young Shin
2019 marks the centennial anniversary of the March First Independence Movement, a national display of Korean resistance against Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula (1910-45), and the establishment of the Korean government in exile in Shanghai, which sought to regain national sovereignty. To commemorate this historic occasion, musicals, operas and other theater performances will highlight Koreans who fought for independence.
The musical “Hero,” to run from March 9 through April 21 at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul, chronicles the last year in the life of patriotic martyr and educator Ahn Jung-geun. During Japan’s colonial rule, Ahn opened schools for Koreans and led an armed resistance against the Japanese. In 1909, he assassinated Ito Hirobumi, the first Japanese resident-general of Korea, for which Ahn was put in prison and executed. This musical has English, Japanese and simplified Chinese captions.
Another hero of the 1919 movement, Yu Gwan-sun, will be honored on March 2 through “Yu Gwan-sun Opera Cantata” performed by the Seoul Metropolitan Chorus at Sejong Center. At age 17, Yu, then a student at Ewha Girls’ High School, was arrested for organizing a pro-independence demonstration at Aunae Market in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do Province. She later died from injuries sustained after being tortured in prison.
“The Day,” a gugak (traditional Korean music) performance, will be staged at the National Gugak Center from April 12-13. This performance portrays the spirit of Korean patriots through poems written by independence activists set to music. Gugak singers will be accompanied by an ensemble of traditional Korean instruments and a Western orchestra.
Other theatrical works will depict the lives of Koreans who lived during the Japanese colonial period. The musical “Eye of Dawn” will run at D-Cube Arts Center in Seoul from Feb. 7 to April 14, and the opera “1945” will be staged at the Seoul Arts Center from Sept 27-28.
Click the links below for more information on these events:
Sejong Center: http://www.sejongpac.or.kr/eng/main/main.asp
National Gugak Center: http://www.gugak.go.kr/site/main/index002
Seoul Arts Center: http://www.sac.or.kr/SacHome/sachome/mainE
