Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, is the host city of the 40th Korean Theater Festival scheduled for July 8- 30. The photo shows a theatrical team performing at the festival.
By Kim Hyelin and Anais Faure
Photo = Miryang City
The city of Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, is holding this month a “feast of theater.”
The province and Miryang from July 8-30 are hosting the 40th Korean Theater Festival.
As the nation’s largest festival of its kind, the event has a 40-year history that began in 1983 with the National Provincial Theater Festival in Busan.
For this year’s festival, Miryang and the Korea Theater Association laid out a schedule centered on the final contest, networking festival and performances of famous one-act plays.
First, theatrical teams representing cities and provinces across the country will perform from July 10-28 at Miryang Arirang Art Center and Miryang City Youth Training Center. They will perform one piece a day, and the closing ceremony on July 30 will hand out awards.
The festival will also feature genres of street performances such as marionette puppetry, string instrument shows including the violin, cello and guitar, fusion acts such as traditional Korean dance and Spanish flamenco, hip-hop, B-boy and Korean music, string and bojagi (traditional wrapping cloth) performances, juggling and storytelling circus dramas, magic and mime shows.
Admission to the final contest, networking festival and performances of one-act plays is KRW 10,000, while the other programs are free. Tickets for paid performances are available on the Naver Booking service (https://booking.naver.com/booking/12/bizes/705221).
During the festival period, Miryang will also host through July 29 the Miryang Performing Arts Festival at Miryang Arena.
Seventy teams will perform a combined 75 times there, with seven invited, three recommended and three regional works taking center stage.
kimhyelin211@korea.kr
