Insouciant, tech-perfect multi-genre productions from Korea are not new to The Hindu Metroplus Theatre Fest. This time Performance Group Tuida brings Tale of Haruk , a myth universally known but uniquely interpreted.
Venue: Ravindra Bharathi
Date and Time: August 23, 7.30p.m.
Gifted to a lonely old couple by the Tree God, the highly-indulged son Haruk becomes insatiably hungry the moment his parents allow him to eat forbidden food (cooked rice).
His hunger is appeased only after consuming the entire world. The old parents, now in his stomach, sing a song to comfort him in his loneliness.
To transform this parable into performance, playwright Bae Yosup has evolved a form to “explore the world of objective reality and the world of feeling and emotion.”
Using everything from puppets and masks to music and dance, Yosup’s lyrical play focuses on things left behind by Korea’s ancestors, to perceive what it means to be human in today’s world. Appealing to children and adults, this lyrical work features traditional Korean puppets made of paper, native masks, and percussion instruments made of recycled-material.
As founder-member of Tuida — launched in 2001 with eight graduates of the Korean National University of Arts — Yosup prides himself in evolving plays through continuous experimentation.
His vision follows Nature’s process — where everything goes back to the same regenerating central force, recycling waste and preserving the environment. Since everything is part of Nature, he believes that playmaking should also be a Nature-friendly activity.
Yosup’s Korean-cosmopolitan glocal style has been acclaimed by audiences across the world. Says Yosup, “I believe a good life makes a good play. I also believe a good play can bring a good life.”
