'Turning Papers into Stage Performances' Samillo Warehouse Theater's 'PerfoPaper' Show from the 13th

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture's Samillo Warehouse Theater will present the planned program '2020 Performon Paper: Unfolded Theater (Performon Paper)' from August 13 to September 6.

Performon Paper is a program that transforms academic papers and theories related to performing arts into the language of the field and performs them. It is the theater's representative program that began in 2018, the first year of Samillo Warehouse Theater's opening.

Until now, Performon Paper mainly dealt with master's theses. Starting this year’s performances, the scope will expand to include short papers that quickly reflect the awareness of issues in the art field. Additionally, in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the program will also be produced as online content and screened through Samillo Warehouse Theater’s YouTube channel and SPAC TV (YouTube, Naver TV).

This year’s Performon Paper will feature two works: 'Sensation, Perception, and the World (offline August 13?15 · online August 17?23),' which explores the process of expanding the audience’s sensation from mere observation to participatory enjoyment, and 'Strange Utopia (offline August 29?30 · online August 31?September 6),' which fundamentally reflects on the fixed gender roles in traditional performing arts.

First, 'Sensation, Perception, and the World' (author and director Jang Eun-joo) reconstructs the thesis 'Theater for Participants with Different Sensations Viewed through Schechner’s Concept of "Performance"' (2019 · Theater Forum) into a workshop format where participants can directly experience answers to the question 'What can performing arts and theater do?' Reflecting the reality where the number of theatergoers has been steadily decreasing due to the development of video media and the performing arts sector has been hit hard by theater closures caused by COVID-19, the thesis raises the issue of sensory bias starting from the fact that the word 관객 (觀客, audience) explicitly refers to visual activity. It explores new standards for process-centered performances where the goal is the participant’s enjoyment rather than just watching the performer’s actions. 'Sensation, Perception, and the World' will hold offline performances from August 13 to 15 with participants who applied in advance. It will also be produced in a 'tutorial' format for online workshop experience and released from August 17 to 23.

'Strange Utopia' (author and director Heo Yong-ho) summons a 1997 thesis from the traditional arts field titled 'Women in Bongsan Talchum: Male-Centrism Revealed in the Symmetrical Depiction of Female Characters' (1997 · Oral Literature Studies vol.4) onto the current stage amid ongoing essential reflections on fixed gender roles in contemporary times. This thesis analyzes the entrances and exits, dialogues, and silences of characters in Bongsan Talchum, presenting the perspective that characters criticizing 'status privileges' and 'male tyranny' in the work actually erase the existence of women and minorities and further reinforce a male-dominated society. The staged performance will vividly present the issues raised in the thesis through demonstrations of Bongsan Talchum and detailed explanations by the thesis author. The offline performance will take place on August 29 and 30, and the online performance, which will include additional visual content beyond just the performance video, will be available from August 31 to September 6.

Samillo Warehouse Theater recently developed a webpage (www.samilro.com) to replace the printed program book. Starting with this Performon Paper performance, the theater’s activities will be shared through the webpage.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.