A wonderful musical ‘Hongdo’ was held from 27th of April till 8th of December 2018 at the Jeollabuk-do Art Center Stage. Fortunately, I had the chance to watch this performance and experience the ancient life of a Korean village.
First, the story begins with the scene in which a modern movie director Dong-hyun visits the 20th Jeonju International Film Festival and gets awarded for his movie. At that moment he meets a beautiful and mysterious woman, who gets his attention by her mysterious story of her life and her descendants. She tells that she has been living for 400 years and her name is Hongdo. She wasn’t a normal girl, but she was funny and full of energy. Her grandfather, Yeo-rip, dreamt about the new world, where every person is equal and where there is no discrimination. Hongdo gave the name ‘Jachigi’ to a young gentleman from her village and they were friends since their childhood. Jachigi was a naughty boy, thus Hongdo and Jachigi always quarreled. Despite fighting all the time, they fell in love with each other and got married. Sadly, she also had hard times losing her family and her childhood love Jachigi. By listening to her touching story, the movie director falls in love with her and finds an unexpected truth about himself. He was the rebirth of Jachigi, the previous lover of Hongdo. It turns out this was the reason for Hongdo’s four-century long wait. That was the best and most exciting moment of this musical.
Next, a mysterious scene about Hongdo’s immortal life and the truth about Dong-hyun’s past life caught my curiosity. Furthermore, the musical’s actors performed with a lot of passion, so that from time to time I had thoughts about how much efforts they put into this performance and how exhausted they must have been after the show. The young lady, who performed the main character Hongdo, had a beautiful voice. It was so beautiful. I wished this musical would never end. This beautiful love story about lovers, who found each other with a 400-year timespan, was one of the best musicals I’ve ever watched. Covering the history and sorrows with the grief of Korean descendants, this musical had a meaningful and interesting story that touched everyone’s heart. Especially, as I like culture and the traditional spirit of a nation, this musical gave me the chance to taste and enjoy Korean culture. For instance, colorful and fashionable Hanboks and realistic acting was my favorite and most unforgettable part of this performance.
Third, the musical had perfect interaction with the audience, people weren’t bored but involved in the performance. They were supporting this performance by cheering up and crying along with the actors through the story of Hongdo, filled with ups and downs such as the struggle with Yeo-rip. Sad scenes about death and grief made the whole audience cry with the actors and hope for a better life for them. Also, this musical’s actors had some of the best performing, acting and singing skills I’ve seen. When the actors sang and danced so harmoniously, and when Hongdo had real tears at the end, the crowd couldn’t help but give them a big applause.
Summing up, performance art teaches us about life; a break from our busy daily lives. Especially, musicals help to feel the art and relax for healthier tomorrow. ‘Hongdo’, ‘the Pirate’ and other musical performances that are being held at the Jeollabuk-do Art Center Stage are ‘must watch’ musicals. Also, there are many other performances and exhibitions being held at the center the whole year round. So, why don’t you go see one of these entertaining musicals and share your review with us in the next edition of CBNU Globe?

Shermamatova Aizharkyn | Reporter