National Changgeuk Company of Korea (NCCK) make their Barbican debut this autumn with the international premiere of Lear, a visionary restaging of one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies into a spellbinding traditional Korean opera. This major new production, critically acclaimed at its premiere in Korea’s National Theatre in 2022, retells the familiar story in the form of Changgeuk. This culturally significant and artistically rich theatrical form in Korea blends music, dance, and drama to create immersive storytelling experiences rooted in Korean tradition and heritage. Running 3 – 6 October, Lear will open the UK-wide K-Music Festival 2024, showcasing contemporary Korean music based on traditions.
The prestigious NCCK has been leading a great resurgence of this traditional Korean opera style for contemporary, multi-generational audiences in recent years, for increasingly global audiences. Choosing Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece as inspiration, NCCK’s Lear incorporates ancient philosophy, Korean language and spectacular staging to explore the nature of our existence.
Lear is helmed by some of Korea’s leading creatives, performers and musicians. The text, by one of the country’s greatest playwrights, Pai Sam-shik (Trojan Women), intertwines Shakespeare’s tale of a powerful king’s descent into madness with Lao-tzu’s ancient philosophy of water, the natural world and balance, connecting with the deep Korean emotion of “han” (symbolising grief and sorrow).
Direction and choreography are by Jung Young-doo, who has an extensive background in dance, theatre and musicals, with Pansori scores (a traditional Korean genre of musical storytelling) composed by Han Seung-seok. Additional music is written by K-Pop producer Jung Jae-il, behind the global hits Parasite and Squid Game (Season 2 will be available to stream on Netflix from December), who returns to the Barbican following his sold-out solo concert at the Hall as part of K-Music Festival 2023. The stunning set design by Lee Tae-sup conceals a 20-ton pool which gradually animates a quiet but vibrant world of water, drawing us to the deep, bottomless abyss of the human mind.
The cast is led by 33-year-old Pansori idol Kim Jun-su as Lear. Since joining the company in 2014 as the youngest performer in NCCK’s history, he has become one of the most high-profile Pansori stars in Korea, highly praised for his interpretations of leading classical roles such as gender-swapped ‘Helen’ in Trojan Women and Medea, and his age-blind casting in Lear.
Finding versatility through Changgeuk, NCCK have created wildly popular, fresh interpretations of classic stories and characters for over a decade, featuring collaborations from the hottest contemporary Korean artists working alongside experts in traditional styles such as Pansori. Registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage with populist roots dating back to the 17th century, Pansori’s epic storytelling is traditionally performed solely by a single vocalist or a sorikkun, weaving a story with chang (song), aniri (descriptive speech), and nurumsae (gesture) alongside a drummer (gosu) and with minimal staging. In Lear, NCCK present an experience that is uniquely Korean, masterfully incorporating Pansori techniques such as the instantly recognisable, guttural sound of the vocals, with the emotional punch of K-Pop played by a 13-piece orchestra, and a large cast performing on the elaborate and breathtaking set.
