CreatripTeam

The National Opera of Korea premieres Hwajeonga on Oct 25–26 at Seoul Arts Center, a new opera by composer Choi Woo-jung, playwright Bae Sam-sik, and director/choreographer Jung Young-doo. The team—who previously collaborated on music-dramas including Jeokro (2017) and Madi and Maedeup (2022)—adapted Bae’s 2020 play about nine women in a Kim family in April 1950, just before the Korean War. Choi blends Western opera with Korean akgeuk (악극, a traditional Korean musical-theatrical form), using folk songs, children’s songs and classical motifs; the production adds a chorus to represent absent male voices and public sentiment. Bae wrote the libretto with a concerto-like four-act structure in mind, while Jung applies his choreographic experience to integrate chorus movement and actors’ staging. The collaborators call each other jijeum (지음, kindred artistic spirits) and hope to continue adapting major Korean works into opera in the future.