“May the wind blow, let’s fly to the land of wonder!”

The newest and most beautiful Romeo and Juliet

If Shakespeare was Korean, how different would his masterpiece dealing with tragic love be? Reborn in a Korean way, <Romeo and Juliet> leads us to a beautiful land of wonder under the dim lights of traditional Korean lanterns. The tragic story we know has been transformed in a world where the color, sound, and manner of Korea harmonize into one and the two lovers seem like magicians; making the audience explode with laughter with their silly tug of war and tearing the audience with their touching lines. But even this beautiful land of wonder cannot avoid the death of the young lovers. The confrontation of adults amid the tragic conclusion provides a new twist from the original, and raises meaningful questions for the contemporary audience where endless conflicts are amplifying.

“The ending that reminds the book of revelation is an amazing theatrical coup! Director Oh Tae-seok is a true wizard!”

<Romeo and Juliet> by Director Oh Tae-seok, who is acclaimed as both the most Korean and most universal man of theater, is his most outstanding masterpiece. After its premiere in 1995, it established itself as a gateway to the world of theatre and the favorite play of many audiences, also producing Korea’s finest actors including Park Hui-sun and Jang Young-nam. Not only that, the play received rousing applause at major international theatres including the Barbican Center in the United Kingdom, the home country of Shakespeare. In 2017, the play returns with perfection. This stage, with 20 years of legendary history, will provide an opportunity to check out the true value of this work which shines brighter with time.

Synopsis

Romeo and Juliet, the son and daughter of the Montague and Capulet families who have been at odds for a long time, fall in love at first sight and hold a secret wedding. However, Romeo accidentally gets caught up in a fight, kills his opponent in a duel, and is exiled. The two go through a heartbreaking farewell, promising to meet again. Later, forced into an unwanted marriage by her family, Juliet takes fake sleeping pills to avoid the crisis; but Romeo, who comes back with yearning, sees Juliet asleep and misunderstands... 

Original Work William Shakespeare

The best playwright and poet in the history of English literature, needs no other description. He even worked as an actor and director of a theater company. Among his works, 39 plays, 154 sonnets, 4 narrative poems, and several lyric poems still endure today. Since the 18th century, when research on Shakespeare started full-scale, an independent study called ‘Shakespeare Studies’ was created in the UK, and is the precedent of all criticism principle, his works have been regarded as the gateway for actors.

Adaptation/ Direction Oh Tae-seok

Oh Tae-seok is a director who has written and directed more than 70 works over 50 years. He has constructed his own world in this play by utilizing Korea’s traditional subject material and performance technique, and theatrical features worldwide, which greatly contributed to establishing the identity of Korean theater. Twenty collections of his plays were published worldwide in Korean, English, Japanese, French, Chinese, Polish, and more, including <Father and Son Affection>, <Bicycle>, and notably <The Wife of Spring Breeze>, which has been carried in the high school Korean language textbook. Oh Tae-seok and the Mokhwa Theater Company strive to clearly express the color, language, and identity of Korea, pursue modernization of tradition, and share what we must not forget in the world of contemporary audiences.