“Let’s go, to the very end, to the south.”

The Mackerel is a story of two girls who set off to explore the real world:

a dynamic, turbulent world full of howling fear and excitement.

Travelogue of two girls who set off to explore the real world.

What will await them in the end?

For the first show of the 2016 NTCK TYA Relay, the Theatre Pan of the National Theatre Company of Korea (NTCK) will show a fantastic adventure of two young girls, Jiho and Kyungju. Running away from all the rumors and hostile attention in their classroom, the two girls go on a spontaneous journey full of wonder. Throughout all the twists and turns of their adventure, they encounter their “true self” and reveal to each other what lies beneath their masks. They go on with their sojourn, filled with heartbreaking revelations, to still grow strong enough to face the harshness of reality. The story is about two adolescent girls struggling their way through life , resembling an image of a mackerel that refuses to stop trying to jump out of the doomed fate of a net. In search of the true meaning of being alive, the girls go on their journey. What will await them in the end?

“Jiho, have any idea of what it means to live? Why don’t we go see a living mackerel?”

Adventure of two eighth grade girls

Enjoy a fantastic harmony of stage, performance, and sound, filled with imagination!

The Mackerel is a play where director Lee Raeeun elaborates a story based on the journal confessions of writer Bae Sohyun. Using a diverse array of on-stage set designs, they colorfully illuminate the friendship, growth, and glittering moments of the two girls’ journey. The story-telling style, told through the female protagonists and three other characters, as well as through swift plot development and dynamic stage architecture, will stir the spectators into frenzy. With a performance that captures the bright tribulations of two girls, and with sounds that extenuate all their delicate changes in rhythm, the perfect harmony of various elements gives birth to a multi-dimensional stage. So why not indulge in a fantasy that documents the dynamic journey of two girls with a potent imaginal force?

Synopsis

My name is Jung Jiho, an ordinary middle school girl with no extraordinary traits. My closest friend is my journal. But Kyungju is totally different from me: she is untouchable and no one messes with her. I find the letters on her lean wrist, “I love Kim Minsu”, particularly amazing. Well, I guess I envy her boldness. So I mustered up some courage and wrote a letter to her, asking her to be my friend. She replied and we are now friends. And then one day, I heard funny rumors about Kyungju being spread by someone at the school. I couldn’t stand the hostile attention and rumors of the classroom, and wanted to run away from them. Today, while I was watching the mackerels in the fishery with Kyunju, she asked me, “Jiho, have any idea of what it means to live? Why don’t we go see a living mackerel ?” As soon I heard her, I found my heart suddenly pounding: yes, that’s how the journey began.

NTCK TYA Relay

The NTCK TYA Relay is a small annual festival that began in 2013. In 2016, with the NTCK TYA Relay, we shall take on a new challenge, focusing on the keyword ‘play’. Through the play, The Mackerel, we intend to introduce a story-telling theatre based on experiences of friendship, love, and growth of the two young female protagonists. The dance theatre, I Don’t Want to Die Just Yet, will show how Ryu Janghyun’s whimsical but honest language of dance, colliding with the body language of teenagers, interprets and conveys the most primal instincts and desire for life. So, expect to see the NTCK full of the lively energy of teenagers in May.