HONG DONGJI AND THE MONSTER ISMI

ABOUT THE PLAY

A unique fusion of traditional Korean folk story and Neapolitan “guarattelle” puppetry art in a wild version by the young Korean troupe Culture Art Bakery FF Wang.

The "Punch and Judy" style performance uses means of the European puppet theatre to tell the Korean legend of the hero Hong Dongji and the Isimi Monster, who plagues the good villagers (and so does the evil bailiff). The show offers great rhythm and play with the hand puppets at a "frenetic" pace, black humour that goes to the edge and, occasionally, beyond, remarkable puppets representing traditional Korean characters but also strongly reminiscent of Pulcinella, Punch, Crocodile, Reaper or Officer and a range of completely surprising moments, all accompanied by the Korean string instrument Gayageum performed by the dainty musician Park Sunju. For strong and sensitive characters only!

Nonverbal.

• 45 min.
• Age category:6+
• Directed by:FF Wang
• Music by:Park Sunju
• Designed by:FF Wang
• Premiere:2018
• Starring:FF Wang, Park Sunju

About the theatre:

Culture Art Bakery FF Wang is an association of artists who seek to combine different genres and kinds of art, from theatre to music to visual arts, looking for new ways of interpreting traditional genres. They draw inspiration from contemporary trends and some of their topics from social media.

FFWang is a young actor who claims to be self-taught, his only teacher being YouTube. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, he captivates the audience with his unique ideas and technique on the border of street theatre, one-man show, new circus and grotesque.

Park Sunju is a multidisciplinary artist who does video art, contemporary and traditional music and choreography, and dance. Her specialty is playing an ancient Korean instrument called the Gayageum, whose strings she will pluck during this performance, too. She is the winner of numerous music awards, including the Best New Artist Award at the Korean Music Awards.