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Modernization, the pivotal turning point of Korean theatre HistoryMeewon Lee (Korean National University of Arts) The Process of Korean Theatre ModernizationThe modernization of Korean theatre began at the turn of the 20th century with the reception and incorporation of Western realistic theatre. The reformation of Korean theatre started amidst the larger social reformation. The reception of western culture and modernization were controversial in Korea at that time. The society understood the advantages of westernization, but felt threatened by the loss of tradition and imperialism. Korea was colonized by Japan in 1910, which accelerated modernization despite strong resistances. Western culture and science were encouraged by Japanese governor-general; so-called scientific reformations of traditional custom were imposed in order to oppress Korean traditions and new literarily forms came into being. Theatre was not an exception. Traditional performances such as mask-dance theatres and shaman performances were oppressed, and new western style entertainments were encouraged. Since the modernization of Korean theatre underwent with colonization, it had some distortions; it could never discuss independence, imperialism, and total freedom. The modernization was mainly limited to scientific reformations and efficient western social systems. In other words, the modernization was achieved not in its spirit but only in techniques.The Western style indoor theatreThe first Western style indoor theatre called Heopyeulsa (協律社) opened in 1902 at the royal court as the official royal theatre. Korean diplomats who had been in western countries suggested building of western style theatre to entertain and foster interaction among foreign diplomatic envoys. Thus, the first indoor theatre came into being at the outskirts of royal palaces. However, Heopyeulsa’s official opening ceremony never took place due to national difficulties such as severe drought, a serious illness of King’s son, and poor harvest. Since there was no the official opening, Heopyeulsa did not receive any royal subsidy. Meanwhile traditional performances including P’ansori and traditional dances were performed, and a new genre called Changguk was developed at Heopyeulsa. Changguk is a role-divided P’ansori, where each actor plays a role with a main narrator. Compared to P’ansori, where a single narrator presents the whole story, Changguk shows western theatrical influences for its dividing roles. After Heopyeulsa closed in 1906 due to its offenses against public morals, the first private theatre Wongaksa (圓覺社) opened at the same place in 1908. Lee Injik (李人稙: 1862-1916), a major supporter of the theatre, was a high official at the court and studied in Japan at the turn of the century. With his influence and interest, he rented the first indoor theatre, which was unused, and opened it with a new name, Wongaksa. This opening ceremony initiated the modernization of Korean theatre. He tried a new theatre with his western style play of “The Silver World(銀世界: 1908),”which was based on a corrupted local governor at that time. Along with the accusation against the governor, Lee Injik included new ideas of modernization regarding social progressivism. It is interesting to know that he borrowed the title of The Silver World from Japanese Sinpa theatre(新派劇). However, since there were no Korean actors trained in the new style, the acting style remained similar to that of P’ansori. Thus, the production showed many characteristics of the transitional theatre between the traditional and the western.The New Sinpa theatre of the 1910s The New Sinpa theatre(新派劇) flourished in the 1910s while traditional performances were rapidly decreased. Compulsory modernization by Japanese imperial government affected all aspects of society, and theatre was not an exception. Ihm Sunggu (林聖九)(1887-1921) opened a new era of Sinpa theatre(新派劇) in the 1910s. He made the Theatre Group “Renovation (Hyuksindan: 革新團)” and produced a play titled Undutiful must be Punished (不孝天罰) in 1911 according to the new Japanese Sinpa theatre, which was the first imitation of Western theatre. However, the content itself emphasized the filial duty, which is very traditional. Korean Sinpa Theatre was an imitation of Japanese Sinpa of that time, but a little different from it because Korea did not have Japanese traditional theatre such as kabuki. Therefore, the style such as pronunciation and movement was different from Japanese Sinpa even though it tried to imitate it. But many repertories of Japanese Sinpa were adapted into Korean Sinpa. Undutiful must be Punished was not an exception; it adapted Japanese Obsessiveness of the Snake (蛇之執念). This new Sinpa was not successful; it was closed after only one night due to the lack of audience. However, subsequent performances such as A Robber with a six-chambered Revolver were very successful after Ihm Sunggu advertised its performances on newspapers. A Robber with a six-chambered Revolver, also an adaptation of Japanese Pistol Robber Shimizu Sadakichi (凊水定吉) is a story of a policeman who risks his life to arrest a robber with a revolver in order to keep social orders despite being fatally shot. Ihm Sunggu was so popular that he wore silk clothes even when he played the role of bagger. From this, we can tell his production was based on the star system and not fully realistic. Although he was not a theatre major or studied abroad, he gained more popularity than anybody else. His tendency to appeal to the emotion seemed was in line with Sinpa theatre. In addition to Ihm Sunggu, Yoon Paeknam (尹白南:1888-1954) and Lee Gisae (李基世: 1890?-1930?) were the representative directors of Sinpa theatre. They both studied theatre in Japanese Universities and knew Japanese Sinpa better than Ihm Sunggu, but their efforts to be close to Japanese Sinpa made them unpopular. In the face of Japanese imperialism, Sinpa theatre similar to Japanese Kabugi style made the Korean public audience uncomfortable. Although Sinpa theatre’s style was totally different from the traditional ones, its repertories often borrowed the stories from traditional novels. In other words, Sinpa theatre tried to adjust to Korean culture and audience. Although Sinpa theatre failed to become the modern realistic theatre, it popularized the concept of ‘language-theatre’ in contrast to the traditional performances. The students’ groups and ‘Towolhoe’ of the 1920s After the Samil Independence Revolution in 1919, where not only Korean intelligentsia but also the general Korean public protested against Japanese imperialism, Japanese governor-general switched policies from oppression to appeasement. Newspapers such as Donga and Chosun came into being and many other journals were allowed to be published. This cultural atmosphere allowed students to give “enlightenment lectures” to the public. Along with these lectures, many new theatres and new music were performed. Realistic renovation of theatre came along with these students’ productions. More realistic productions came into being by university students in the 1920s. The Association of Theatre Arts (Keugyesul Hyophoe: 劇藝術協會 1920-1923), the Association of Earth and Moon (Towolhoe: 土月會 1923-1932) and many other students’ groups produced modern Western plays as well as their original realistic works. The students’ groups performed mainly to enlighten the public during summer vacations. Their performances often included lectures, western music and songs, and theatrical events. Thus, mainly realistic one-act western plays such as Chekhov’s The Bear, Lord Dunsany’s The Glittering Gate, and Bernard Shaw’s How He Lied to Her Husband were produced. While representative playwrights of realism were chosen, their representative plays were not performed since the groups were amateurs and lacked the capability to produce full length plays. They also produced their original plays such as The death of Kim Youngil (Kim Younil-ue Sa), which portrayed the milieu of working students in a realistic manner and introduced various western modern philosophies such as Christian humanism, communism, dandyism, and Nietzscheanism. All these productions were pioneers of the realistic theatre; actors tried not to exaggerate their speeches and acting, realistic backdrops were provided, first women actress such as Lee Wolhwa(1904(?)-1933) and Bok Hesuk(1904-1982) stood on stage, and the main taboo or issues of the society such as sexuality and the early marriage custom were described in their original plays. Although their members were amateur, these students’ groups firmly established the foundation for realistic theatre. The members were elites of the time and had full knowledge of Western realistic theatre. In fact, their theatre movements could be compared to the independent theatre movements in Europe. Kim Wujin (金祐鎭:1897-1926) and Park SeungHee(朴勝喜:1901-1964) were the representative leaders, and were sons of aristocrat unlike the traditional actors who were from the lower or outcast class. As the status of theatre people rose, so did the role of theatre in Korean society. Theatre was no longer a mere entertainment but became a medium for social reforms. Influenced by Romain Rolland’s people’s theatre, they tried to enlighten the public. The modernization of the Korean theatre by the reception of western realism was nearly complete. The plays of Kim Wujin and Park SeungHee were realistic and their new productions heavily incorporated Western realism and were proficient in the realistic style. Among these students groups, the Association of Earth and Mood became a leading professional theatre company of the 1920s.The first academy for actors also came into being in 1920 by Hyun Chul (玄哲: 1891～1965), who was attending the theatre school in Japan. He made use of his student experience, and ran the academy for about a year. Hyun Chul attempted the second academy for actors in 1925. Although it also lasted only a year, it produced famous actresses such as Bok Hesuk(1904-1982). These schools aimed to teach theories and practices for actors and actresses. They founded the educational ground for acting and theatre. Hyun Chul also wrote many introductions about modern western theatre, and introduced many western realistic theories and directors. Therefore, the groundwork for the western realistic theatre was set up in the 1920s.The Achievement of Realistic theatre by ‘Theatre Arts Studies (Keugyeul Yeonguhoe)’ in the 1930s Hong Haesong(洪海星:1893-1957), after studying and working at the Tsukiji Little Theatre(築地小劇場) in Japan, organized a company called Theatre Arts Studies (Keugyeul Yeonguhoe: 劇藝術硏究會) in 1931, which led the 1930s theatrical innovations. The company introduced many Western realistic plays and original Korean realistic plays with realistic productions. Since the company had membership system like most independent theatres in Europe, it could avoid the financial bankruptcy and could last throughout the 1930s. It is said that this company finally achieved the full functions of western independent theatre. Theatre Arts Studies’ works were divided into three periods: the period of western realistic plays, the period of original realistic plays and the final period of war-propaganda plays from the pressures by the Japanese governor-general. Since the third period was totally controlled by the Japanese governor-general due to the Second World War, only the works of the first two periods are important and will be discussed.The first period of the company was led by Hong Haesong. He made the best of his experience at the Tsukiji Little Theatre (築地小劇場) and produced repertories similar to the Tsukiji Little Theatre. Thus, many western realistic plays were introduced through Japanese interpretation. But unlike the 1920s when scripts were translated from Japanese, most scripts of the 1930s were directly translated from their original languages. Starting with Gogol’s Inspector, plays of Lady Gregory, Chekhov, Shaw, Ibsen and others were produced. 25 plays including The Cherry Orchard, Arms and the Man, and the Power of Darkness were performed. Three dimensional settings were fully accomplished in their productions, and there were no more male-actresses in contrast to the 1920s.Yoo Chijin (柳致眞:1905-1974) took over the company after Hong’s resignation, and emphasized production of original realistic plays. An accomplished playwright himself, Yoo Chijin discovered many representative playwrights of Korean modern theatre such as Lee Kwangrae (李光來:1908-1968), Kim Jinsoo (金鎭壽:1909-1966), and Ham Seduk (咸世德:1915-1950). With works of these playwrights, Korean modern realistic theatre became truly established. Their works created realistic milieu of the time with everyday language and raised awareness of social issues. All these writers solidified the realism and the status of western-style playwrights. These writers fortified the foundation of western playwriting, and led the theatrical world after the independence. In other words, Theatre Arts Studies Group played the most important role for establishment of realistic theatre and for encouraging the western style Korean mercial Theatres in the 1930s and War Time Propaganda Theatre in the 1940sCommercial theatres also flourished in the 1930s. Succeeding the Sinpa theatre’s commercial success, the Oriental Theatre (Dongyang Keukjang: 東洋劇場) was opened in 1935. The Oriental Theatre was the first professional theatre for drama with a revolving stage and 600 seats. Bae Guja (裵龜子:1905-2003), the founder of the Oriental Theatre, was a well-known performer and adopted daughter of Japanese high official. Her husband, Hong Soonyon (洪淳彦:1905(?)-1937), was the manager of the theatre and dramatically improved the treatments of people working in theatre. The Oriental Theatre was the first company to give salaries to its actors, directors and writers. Thus, many qualified and competent theatre people moved to this commercial theatre including Hong Haesong, the first leader of Theatre Arts Studies Company, and heightened the quality of commercial theatre. The Oriental Theatre strengthened the basis of commercial theatre. It popularized western theatre among the public, and consequently contributed to the spread of modern realistic theatre. It also demonstrated that theater can be profitable as entertainment industry and actors could live on salary. Furthermore, it discovered many new actor, actresses, and directors, who then became founder of theatre and movie industry after independence of Korea. In short, the Oriental Theatre was the symbol of theatre industry that provided people working in theatre financial stability. Because the Japanese as well as the colonized Koreans were under wartime in the first half of the 1940s, all cultural activities were controlled by Japanese governor-general. All Korean theatre companies were allowed only to produce so-called “People’s Theatre” that heightened the war spirit and spread the propaganda of Japanese government. Thus, modernization of Korean theatre regressed in this period, and instead many full length propaganda plays came into being under the strict censorship of Japanese governor-general. Japanese governor-general had three official theatre competitions in 1942, 1943, and 1945, in order to promote War Spirit. It is a pity for dawning modern Korean theatre to be used in promoting Japanese invasions, but much full length plays were produced under the necessity of war-propaganda. Owing to this purpose, theatre companies continued to exist and later played a role as a bridge between colonial theatre and post-independence theatre.The Effect of Theatre ModernizationAfter the modernization of Korean theatre, the western realistic theatre is still the main stream of contemporary Korean theatre. Contrast to the traditional theatre, the modernized theatre emphasizes causality of plot, uses everyday language and written scripts. Theatre often raises social issues rather than being entertainments. The status of actors is also raised. In short, it is the modernization that totally changed the codes and conventions of Korean theatre, i.e., organizing stories, acting style, the hierarchy of theatrical elements, the discourse of thoughts and the attitude of attending performances. The comparison between Korean traditional theatre and Korean modern realistic theatre as follows:Episodic LinealImprovisation CausalitySongs, Dances Everyday LanguageStylized acting Realistic actingPerformativity RepresentationEntertainment Social IssuesAudience attending Audience watching<The hierarchy of theatrical elements>Spectacle plot Ritual & Festivity Life-likenessMultiformity Single and unityIn addition, true globalization of Korean theatre started from this modernization. The realistic modernization means globalization in the 20th century. The western canons of Shakespeare, Moliere, Ibsen and other many playwrights are known to Korea. However, the globalization of post modernism in the 21th century takes advantages of traditional theatres. The comparison between the traditional theatre and the postmodern theatre as follows:Episodic Multi-lineal or No storyImprovisation Coincidence, HappeningSongs, Dances Sound & visual EffectsStylized acting Non-realistic acting . Episodic, Multiformity Convergence ,Divergence, Fusion Multiformity Ritual & Festivity Performativity Audience attending Audience InvitedIndigenous Multi-cultural The globalization nowadays raises another question; could traditional theatres revive again in contemporary theatre? Many non-western traditions are mixed in postmodern theatre nowadays. For example, the western canons are played with Korean traditional heritages by Korean directors; JongWong Yang’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and Taeseok O’s Tempest were very well received even in England. Then, some questions are left; is modernization the pivotal between traditional theatres and postmodern theatres? Could traditional theatres become (or revive in ) postmodern theatres? In other words, traditional theatres could be hopefully united with postmodern theatres as present alive forms? The endless revivals of traditional theatres in performances of today are even suggestive of the future theatre which combined modern theatres and traditional theatres. ................
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