The Chuncheon International Theatre Festival, which was first held in 1993 under the theme of "Our Understanding, Cooperation and Education through the Theater" has reached a turning point again. At that time, the Festival was Korea''s only international theater festival to take place in a city other than Seoul. Working hand in hand with the International Amateur Theatre Association (IATA), the festival had served as a networking venue for amateur theater participants every three years. In 2002, it came to be organized every year, as the Korean and international theater environment had changed and people had participated more actively. In 2008, the festival became a corporate body to be run in a more stable manner. This year, the 15th Festival is being prepared, in cooperation with the region''s three representative performing arts festivals. Now, meet Mr. Dae-bum Lee, the chairman of the Chuncheon Festival Committee and the artistic director of the Chuncheon International Theatre Festival. Mr. Lee says that we should watch plays with the most precious people and that to him, the most precious people are his family members. That is why he always takes his wife or daughter to the theater. Such an attitude toward the theater is beautifully embedded in the Festival he runs.

Q : Some of those in the theater scene find it regrettable to have most of Korea''s theater infrastructure only in Seoul, particularly in the Daehangno area. How is Chuncheon''s theater environment and how many of local troupes participate in the Festival?

A : It is actually not known well that the theater scene is active not only in Seoul but also in other Korean cities. The problem is that institutions, including local governments, are not lending support continuously. Nevertheless, in Chuncheon, troupes that serve as social companies such as Domo and Art-3 Theatre are taking the lead in the city''s cultural development. Other troupes including the Theater Society, Gulae, Honseong and Masil (female troupe) continue to perform about twice ayear. The Chuncheon International Theatre Festival selects its participating troupes through a public contest and it always invites a couple of troupes from Gangwon Province including Chuncheon. Moreover, in cooperation with the Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, the Festival has organized the Theater Awards for two years. The award winning work is produced mainly by local troupes and it is presented as the opening performance of the next Festival.

Q : The Chuncheon Festival Committee was launched last December and this year, the Puppet Festival Chuncheon, Chuncheon International Early Music Festival, Chuncheon International Theatre Festival and Chuncheon International Mime Festiva will take place consecutively in the same month. Is this what the city suggested?

A : Long time ago, the city once made efforts to combine different festivals. At that time, its motto was "Chuncheon Is Having a Festival." After some time, the documents related to these efforts were studied and realizing the need to combine festivals, festival organizations gathered together voluntarily. However, the organizations had already finished planning their festival operation and budget so this year, they only decided to hold festivals during the same period. From next year, the performance program will be planned mainly by the four festiavl organizations while a separate budget will be allocated to the Chuncheon Festival Committee which will play a leading role in improving these organizations'' activities.

Q : What results do you expect? Are you also planning the production of content in which all of the four festival organizations will participate?

A : Korea has recently had many similar festivals so Chuncheon''s festivals have somewhat lost their competitiveness. Plus, they have been organized with a very low budget so each festival organization has had difficulties in acting alone. So I expect a synergistic effect. I believe that the active exchange of ideas among the festival organizations will enable the formation of a stable pool of labor. It is often said that Chuncheon is a "city of culture" so we had to combine the city''s festivals to make this clear. The transportation system surrounding the city has greatly improved thanks to the new highway between Seoul and Chuncheon, ITX-Cheongchun (semi-high speed train running on the Gyeongchun Line) and double-track subway line. This would also allow even the audience from Seoul to come to Chuncheon conveniently to enjoy good performances. It is necessary to develop killer content symbolizing Chuncheon and it is an arduous task to be carried out by a single organization. So the organizations have more or less agreed to make content together. The city has also promised to provide financial support. We plan to make a work that would contain Chuncheon''s legend or culture and at the same time, that would transcend the region to have universal sentiments and philosophy.

Q : A long preparation period would be needed to invite foreign troupes or to run a public contest. Hasn''t there been any difficulty while organizing the Festival earlier than the previous years?

A : In most cases, the Chuncheon International Theatre Festival has taken place in late September or early October so it has particularly been burdensome to prepare the Festival compared to other ones. That is why for this year, we asked the troupe Domo to prepare it for us. The troupe doesn''t do any production work but it specializes in planning events. As for inviting foreign troupes, we have visited arts markets, like the one held during the Avignon Festival, or we have also used our own human network. For this year, we may have to contact the organizations we have already known. We plan to invite about four troupes.

Q : Since it is an international theatre festival, every year, many would be interested particularly in the number of participating countries and in foreign troupes and their works. What is your priority in terms of international exchange?

A : The number of participating countries once decreased due to the budget issue so at that time, we were concerned about whether we would continue to call it an "international festival." Like at the very beginning, we could have cooperated with IATA to solve the problem but it wasn''t easy to know exactly the level of amateur troupes. I don''t mean to underestimate them but if we are to meet the needs of the audience who is ever more demanding, we need to invite troupes whose quality has been proved. Meanwhile, in the past, we were able to invite foreign troupes just by offering them a plane ticket but today, we must pay them a performance fee as well. Naturally, the number of participating countries decreased. Moreover, we had to present foreign works that have less actors and that cost less to invite them. So instead of increasing the number of participating countries, we decided to differentiate each year''s Festival from others. For example, two years ago, the Festival was focused on the Russian theater so it included a symposium on the theme to enable academic exchange as well. In the future, the Festivals will have different themes including the Japanese theater, the North American theater and the East European theater.

Q : What is the most memorable among the foreign works you have invited?

A : Although people say that Eastern Europe has collapsed, the quality of the theater in this region is still very high. I remember that a Polish troupe came to Chuncheon to express in a condensed manner human isolation, mechanic civilization and environmental issues. The play made me think about many things when leaving the theater. In contrast, the plays presented in Korea''s Daehangno area these days tend to excessively deviate from the genre of the theater, just in an attempt to attract the audience. People would feel certain catharsis while laughing hard but something is missing. Instead, what we need is a play that rather complicates ourselves and that offers us food for thought. In that sense, I like what is tried by East European troupes because they express the anguish felt amidst the paradigm shift and the concern about modern civilization storming into poverty.

Q : Every year in May, Korea has a variety of performing arts festivals including the Busan International Performing Arts Festival, Ansan Street Arts Festival and Uijeongbu International Music Theatre Festival. What differentiates the Chuncheon International Theatre Festival from others?

A : The Chuncheon International Theatre Festival pursues a "theatre festival where you can study" and a "theatre festival you share with your family." We would like to enhance the quality of its performances while continuously organizing academic events so that professionals can take their students to the festival. Our goal is to enable the Festival to celebrate its centennial anniversary by developing the Festival''s own creative human resources and planning professionals. We hope that in the future, people will regard the Academy of the Chuncheon International Theatre Festival as a place they must visit to study. In the meantime, we have chosen a variety of slogans for the Festival and all of them have been related to family. I believe that how we enjoy the arts is important and that we should watch plays with family. When asking my students to submit comments on plays twice a semester, I tell them to have a memorable moment with precious people. When I say this, they often think of their boyfriend or girlfriend but the most precious people are actually your family members. Under these circumstances, my goal is to create a culture of enjoying plays with family. Today, we often hear of a crisis of family and a crisis at home. I believe that this is where the Chuncheon International Theatre Festival can find its social role as well.

Q : What does the Chuncheon International Theatre Festival mean to you? What does the theater mean to you?

A : I became a member of the Festival''s organizing committee in 2009, as far as I remember, and three years ago, I was appointed as its artistic director. When I was asked to serve as the artistic director, I said that it would be better to find someone who has long been related to the theater scene directly. That is because although I have also been in the theater scene, I haven''t worked on the stage but I have written stories at school. Nevertheless, they said that it would also be good to have someone from academia and I accepted the job. The number of troupes from Chuncheon participating in the Festival had been small so I wanted to increase it. I also wanted to create performance content that would be directly associated with Chuncheon, along with local people in the theater scene. To achieve these goals, I have served as a member of the organizing committee and the artistic director of the Festival. To me, the Chuncheon International Theatre Festival is a space where people get together and the theater is a means of communication. In this space, people meet others and they share their ideas with them by means of the theater. It is great to share ideas through the theater.