K-style Shakespeare Triumphs: National Theater’s 'Twelfth Night' Sells Out in Beijing
Creatrip Team
4 months ago
South Korea’s National Theater, co-producing with Daejeon Arts Center, staged a Korean adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in Beijing on Oct 24–25 as the closing piece of the Beijing International Youth Theatre Festival. The production, adapted and directed by Im Do-wan, relocates the story to Joseon-era village life and emphasizes Korean regional dialects and traditional dance, while using exaggerated physical theatre for comic effect. The two performances drew 774 Chinese audience members and sold out both shows, with actors adding Chinese-language wordplay and ad-libs that won strong applause and encore calls. Artistic director Park Jung-hee said the success shows theatre can cross language and cultural barriers and pledged to promote Korean theatre globally. (Joseon: historical Korean dynasty; paldo dialects: regional Korean dialects)
