By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Konstantinos Christopoulos from Greece
Photos = National Theater of Korea

The synergy between ancient Greek theater and traditional Korean theater has been presented in various European countries in June and July. The production of "Trojan Women" was first presented in 2016 in Korea by the National Theater of Korea, with co-production from the Singapore International Festival of Arts.

"Trojan Women" is a Greek tragedy written by Euripides in 415 B.C. It follows the fates of the women of Troy after their city was sacked, their husbands killed, and they being about to be taken away as slaves.

The subject has a unique resonance in Korea because of the history of the so-called "comfort women" during colonial times and World War II who were forced into sexual slavery by the colonial government and by the Japanese imperial military.

The tragedy has now been re-imagined as a traditional Korean performance that fuses classical Greek tragedy with pansori, the 400-year-old genre of Korean storytelling, and changgeuk, another traditional Korean genre that is similar to what could be thought of as Korean opera. The changgeuk version of the play captures the main elements of a Greek tragedy, including the role of fate and the integration of the chorus.

The play is directed by Sinagaporean stage director Ong Keng Sen. The vocal parts of the four main Trojan women characters have been composed orally by Ahn Sook-sun, the most celebrated pansori singer of our era. Ahn Sook-sun was designated in 1997 as a "Human Cultural Asset," a "Living National Treasure," for her extraordinary gifts as a musician. She is considered to be one of the most highly-respected performers of pansori, a genre that was added to UNESCO's global list of intangible cultural heritage items in 2003.

" Trojan Women" premiered in Seoul in November 2016 and in Singapore in 2017. In June and July 2018, the play was presented in the U.K., the Netherlands and in Austria.



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* This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.