Rooted in tradition but constantly evolving through the creation of new performances.

Q: Can you tell us a little about The Gwangdae and its members?

A KWON : It is well known that The Gwangdae’s members are graduates of the Korea National University of Arts and the Seoul Institute of the Art, as well as those who completed the Korean Mask Dance Drama Goseong Ogwangdae. The members [Kwon refers to them as “entertainers” rather than “troupe members”] all actively participate in creating new performances, and we recruit the staff for music and production externally, all working together. Director Seojin KIM, who directed Lure me, Fisherman, has worked with us on three other pieces: Round and Round in Search of Fathers, Lure me, Fisherman and, most recently, Good Morning Gwangdae Gut.

Q: As a troupe that performs traditional theater, we can only imagine the challenge you face in finding a balance between honoring tradition and giving it a more modern spin.

A KWON : To traditional entertainers, becoming a “master” in their work is a common goal, so the entertainers themselves are often torn between honoring and modernizing tradition. The Gwangdae’s entertainers do both at the same time; those who have completed the Korean Mask Dance Drama Goseong Ogwangdae process take on the role of upholding tradition and, through various workshops, we transform this work into a ‘modernized tradition’ to create our performances. Although The Gwangdae places slightly more emphasis on creating, in terms of the process I think we need to fully understand tradition before moving onto modernizing it. Through Spin Jump Fly, an authentic traditional performance, The Gwangdae engages with an audience unfamiliar with traditional performance in order to educate them and, by working on contemporary pieces such as Lure Fishing, we communicate, and grow, with the audience.

Q: How do you conduct your workshops? We’re curious to know about how the workshops influence your work, and the process you go through to create a new performance.

A KIM : We have one workshop focused on building traditional performance ability, another for performance ideas, and also one that combines modern dance with percussion instruments. The objectives of our workshops are to expand our pool of subjects and ideas, to set the direction of our work, and to discover the entertainers’ personal talents and specialties for use in our performance. While preparing for Lure me, Fisherman, we got a lot of help, from the movement workshop that we conducted, in training the entertainers who are accustomed to Talchum to wear suits and move around in an ordinary manner.

The street performance was a chance for us to meet the audience in person; to communicate with them and connect with them.

Q: According to the dictionary definition, the title of your piece is the North Korean word for Lure Fishing. Where did you get the idea for a performance with such a unique name?

A KWON : We started with the purpose of producing a piece for a street performance. In the past, The Gwangdae’s performances have brought performance arts to the theaters. This time, we wanted to try and come up with a concept that would make full use the streets, with a modern twist.

KIM : During my research, I came across Miryang Baekjoongnori (Folk Festival of Miryang), which grabbed my attention. Miryang Baekjoongnori is a traditional festival held by servants, following arduous labor in the fields. In Lure me, Fisherman, we modernized this idea, with the entertainers depicting salary men instead of servants in our production. Then, when we were directing the Byungshinchum - the most important part of Miryang Baekjoongnori - we were inspired by the poet Ha YOO’s poem Squid. This poem talks about the current lives of today’s people, how their busy lives are absent of happiness, and how they are possessed by a fake light. The poet goes on to satirically compare people to the squid that are lured by lights on fishing boats. We depicted the lives of these people, through dance, by putting on squid masks.

KWON : We took about 5 months to produce Lure me, Fisherman. During pre-production, we conducted extensive research to help us bring the characteristics of salary men to life on stage, and then we had a workshop to put that into choreography. We conducted the research around business areas such as Gwanghwamun and, whenever we were taking a break or going to and from work, we would observe salary men and their habits first hand. Because the majority of our members are not accustomed to 9-to-6 jobs, understanding the salary men’s way of walkingwalk, their habits, behavior around their boss, posture, etc. was extremely helpful.

Q: Lure me, Fisherman was your first street performance, and yet the entertainers seemed very comfortable performing.

A KIM : When we first started trying street performances, our entertainers were less interested in this non-verbal style of performance, and it was hard to determine the overall interest or demand for such performances domestically and abroad, so we were a bit anxious about taking this step. But, by meeting the audience through our work, the entertainers realized their power to communicate with the audience and, in that sense, they find this medium very rewarding.

KWON : We performed Lure me, Fisherman not only at festivals, but also on the some of the busiest streets in some of the business areas, during lunch hours. During festivals, people are usually ready to open up to performances, but the businesspeople we encountered were very closed and quite taken aback. But, as performances went on, more people opened up until they were genuinely feeling the performance. We did incorporate humor into our performance, but I think the fact that we showed them a part of their lives that they could relate to made more of an impression

We try not to do things that are too complicated or that the audience cannot understand.

Q: What are your plans for the future at home and abroad?

A KWON : The Gwangdae has been performing steadily at home, and we will continue to do so in the future. We do not yet have any significant experience performing abroad; we are still looking for that golden opportunity to kick-start our international performing career. Recently, the trend in international exchanges seems to be cooperation or residency, and we’re getting a lot of recommendations along these lines. We are, however, preparing more aggressive promotions to venture out into overseas markets, including the reorganization of the troupe management after being selected for the PAMS Choice.

Q: Do you have anything you want to say to the performance artists abroad who might see this interview?

A KWON : I think Lure me, Fisherman is a performance that many festivals might be interested in. Though it does fit better with the street setting, the performance is not limited to any one type of venue, and it has a repertory that combines aspects of traditional and modern performances. The Gwangdae is well known for their talent and ability and, because the entertainers are from a younger generation, our greatest strength is that we can bring a creative and hip flair to our performance. When performing at this high technical level, the appeal of a performance is contingent on the uniqueness and personality of the troupe. In this respect, I believe The Gwangdae has more than enough potential to attract international audiences.

Q: Do you have any pointers for first-time audiences of The Gwangdae performances?

A KIM : Lure me, Fisherman is composed of three different scenes, each self-contained, so that anyone arriving even in the middle of the performance can immediately understand what’s going on.

KWON : The Gwangdae doesn’t like anything complicated or difficult. Just feel the performance, take it at face value, and relate to the story.

As we were wrapping up the interview, I asked one last question. After giving it some thought, the promoter and director both came up with one answer, however both insisted on confirming their answer with Professor AHN Daecheon, representative of The Gwangdae, and proceeded to pick up their phones. Ahn, without any hesitation, gave us the same answer as the other two.

Q: What does the audience mean to The Gwangdae?

A: All : Friends that will play with us.