Have you ever seen a performance in Jeonju? Here is a creative group that consists of young people in Jeonju. ‘Baewoodacompany’ was co-founded in 2014 by CEO Song Won and Park Min-sung, and has about a hundred members. Their dream aims to produce art in solidarity with the community's underprivileged.

• Unite People with Art, Baewoodacompany

Baewoodacompany creates works of art based on performing arts, and conducts art education through them. There are about eight members who perform mainly for Baewoodacompany, with each having no specific role. Instead, they take on the project they want to do and volunteer to be in charge of it. They also visit the art education site with issues related to school violence, environment, or gender. In addition, they are holding workshops and meetings among themselves with the aim of providing what young artists need in the region. The keynote of Baewoodacompany is to unite people with art. In fact, the purpose of their establishment was for self-fulfillment, but later embodied the desire to connect the community with the socially disadvantaged, along with incorporating meaningful social values into their art.

● Constantly Preparing to Communicate with the Audience

The performance is called in 2021.<Attachment Form 01_Resume>performance during her eight-year career was Song won said that the most memorable ‘첨부파일_서식01_이력서’ in Korean. She said, “it was the first performance we did in Seoul.” She added, “it was the largest audience I had performed in front of in eight years, so I received a lot of reviews about this performance. The process of making a performance is precious, but I found that I am very happy to receive an immediate response from the audience." Then Song won said that there is a co-created performance called <Cinderella>, which was made last year. It is a family drama about Cinderella. It is a story about the protagonist chasing her dream. In addition, there is a play called <Failure Star K>. If the play is selected to run again, Song won and her fellow actors will perform it. This play is about the struggles of a person who has failures in life, reference to the audition program called ‘Superstar K’.

• Enduring Limited Budget and Undermanning

In the usual process of planning a performance, active communication takes place and the group members are not afraid of conflict. Likewise, there are no big difficulties in Baewoodacompany. In addition, members are not pursuing a profit, so conflict is less likely to occur. However, life was not without adversity for Baewoodacompany.

The process of performing <Listen> was a difficult experience. It was performed at the Moak Hall of the Sori Art Center of Jeollabuk-do in 2019. Moak Hall is the biggest hall in the Sori Art Center of Jeollabuk-do, and its backstage is nearly as big as a soccer field. Song said, “we felt that it was difficult to fill such a large stage because there were only sixteen actors as well as a limited budget."

• Enduring Difficult Moment: COVID-19 and Cancellation

It was also a difficult time as COVID-19 began to spread. Song won’s group performed a piece called <Attachment Form 01_Resume> at Daehakro in 2021 and they were planning to have an encore concert in Jeonju that winter. It was an ambitious plan, but the situation of COVID-19 inevitably hindered progress. There was a member of the performance crew whose family member had become infected with COVID-19. Therefore, the performance was canceled because a government guideline at that time required the self-quarantine of anyone whose family was positive. Song won said, “I think it was hard for us because it was unfamiliar. It is a theater principle that the performance proceeds no matter what, but this time it was broken. Thus, I was at a loss as to what to do next.”

• Holding out, Comforting Someone

She realized that art groups are structurally most vulnerable after the cancellation of the performance. Her fellow actors had to bear the brunt of the damage caused by the cancellation. Although it was not easy to overcome, four people worked through it by sharing roles fairly with one another.

Song won gave her point of view to local college students and local young artists at the end of the interview. She thinks everyone in life is struggling in their own way. She said “in my opinion, I am positive that young people like you are doing their best in life. Therefore, I just want to tell you that Baewoodacompany’s presence can give you comfort. You can find solace in realizing that we are holding out even if people don’t realize it.

| Yang Seo-jung, Chae Won-jin Reporters