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It’s a midsummer’s night and the mischievous Dokkebi (Korean goblins), are
having a big party….
Combining unique Korean-style movements, facial expression and vocalization
with a fresh mix of energetic dance, voice and percussion, the Shakespearean
original is compellingly brought to life by Director Jung-Ung Yang’s original script,
incorporating themes and characters from Korean culture and folklore.You will
witness the Korean equivalents of the fairy king and queen, Oberon and Titania, in
reverse roles. Bottom is a country woman searching for Sansam, a rare hundredyear-
old ginseng, and Puck splits into twins!
It is ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by Shakespeare, but it is a fascinating
re-telling that is infused with wit and pageantry that is uniquely Korean. As Koo
Jayeon, reporter of Seoul magazine states: “‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by the
Yohangza Theatre Company contains a kind of universality, transcending cultural
differences between East and West.” Inspired by Shakespeare’s play, Yohangza’s
production features director Jung-Ung Yang’s original script, incorporating themes
and characters from Korean culture and folklore, foremost and perhaps most
enjoyable being the figure of the Dokkebi emerge after sunset and disappear
before sunrise. The Dokkebi, who love to sing and dance, are similar to sprites
and goblins in Western fairy tales. Except for the one or two horns on their
heads, they otherwise resemble human beings, compete with human foibles and
affections. Another typically Korean character is Ajumi, a feisty woman wondering
in the forest collecting herbs to sell at market. The pot of gold at the end of her
rainbow is to find the mythic thousand year old ginseng plant (Sansam), thus
assuring wealth and happiness for the rest of her life.
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Following the storyline of the Shakespearean original, Director Jung-Ung Yang’s
script shows Hang in love with Beuk, who is forced by her father to marry Loo.
Hang and Beuk decide to run away and get married secretly. Beuk accidentally
tells her secret to her best friend, Ick, who is in love with Loo. Hoping that Loo
will give up his love for Beuk, Ik tells Rue about Beuk’s plans to elope with Hang.
However, the story gets more and more twisted. Loo runs after his love and
meets the Dokkebi Oberon, who is constantly flirting with girls while his Dokkebi
wife, the head of all the goblins, hatches a plan to fix him.
However, as the critic Leah Milner points out, “Yohangza makes physical theatre
an extreme sport in their spectacular retelling of Shakespeare’s comedy. Korean
folklore breathes new magic into the tale, with its mischievously humourous Dokkebi
goblins. Milner calls it a truly multilingual performance narrated in a foreign tongue
and through the combined languages of dance, percussion and mime, with the Korean
cast losing nothing in translation.” Awarding the production a 5 star rating, Milner
goes on to add, “the lights are dimmed, the actors dance with glowing bangles to
welcome us to their dreamscape. Percussion immerses the nocturnal forest in surround
sound, the performers disperse through the auditorium to produce an orchestra of
insect noise and beastly howls. All the main characters are represented, but there are
subtle changes and role reversals in their Korean counterparts. Shakespeare’s Oberon
is the dominant partner who casts a spell on his wayward fairy queen Titania, but in
the South Korean version it is the Dokkebi queen Dot who wears the trousers. She has
her husband Kabi fall for the grotesque Bottom character, an elderly woman the fairies
have transformed into a pig. Duduri is played by two actors, at times manoeuvring as
a single body and at others dividing into a Puck-ish double-act. Much of the drama
is conveyed by facial expression, gesture and martial-arts inspired dance. Slapstick
comedy is enhanced by random and deliberately incongruous interjections in broken
English, its perfect comic timing bridges the cultural gap between audience and cast.”
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