김한 교수님이 지난번에 하신 인문학 콘서트에 대한 리뷰입니다. 내용이 너무 길어 중략하였습니다. 양해 부탁드립니다.
<Romeo and Juliet>, one of William Shakespeare's two most popular plays along with <Hamlet, was staged on May 19, 2018 at Shinchon Presbyterian Church in Seoul due to the efforts of Madam Prof. Kim Han, who spent lifetime studying and teaching the world's most famous playwright.
The 90-minute work of Shakespeare�셲 most famous story of love was directed and produced by music Prof. Lee Kyu-Seong under the guidance of Madam Prof. Kim Han, who taught English literature at Dongguk University in Seoul over three decades.
Baritone himself Prof. Lee teaches music at the Conservatory of Dongguk University in Seoul. Lee is the noted artistic director of operas. He is the winner of the covetous Maria Callas Grand Prix.
A number of audience occupied seats in palatial main hall of the church. More than 350 people filled the hall, according to Rev. Cho Dong-Cheon, senior pastor of the church.
The tragic romance staged in English language drew a very high acclamations from the large crowd gathered at the Protestant church.
The entire staff and cast were all Koreans. Tenor Jeong Jae-Hwan and Soprano Kwak Hyun-Joo (Rachel) starred as Romeo and Juliet respectively.
Two other dancers appeared as Romeo and Juliet. They are Jeong Jae-Pil (Romeo) and Park Sung-Eun (Juliet). Piano was played by Lee Youn-Mi while Lee Kun-Hee served as a composer.
Prof. Lee explaioned that the questions and answers in Madam Prof. Kim's lecture emphasized on the value of true love rather than the fame of his or her name in the world.
'One takes his or her own life for the fame without realizing the name in the world will prove nothing,' Prof. Lee said. 'In particular the balcony scene was important and it includes Juliet's speech carrying the essence of the true love through 'the mysterious economics of Juliet.''
'The more I give to you, the more I have,' Juliet's famous 'Balcony Scene remark' in the drama touched up the heart and mind of the audience at the church,' Prof. Lee explained.
He said that 'Harmony' is the theme of this play's dance. The two dancers created the whole choreography from start to finish for this drama.
'I wanted this drama to be understood comfortably by the audience, most of them are churchgoers,' He went on. 'I planned this play in a way it does not deviate from its original work'. ...
'We wanted to express pure and candid passion through Romeo and Juliet who were merely teenagers,' the singers commented.
What made the drama more attractive and special was the lecture thrown by Madam Prof. Kim during the play.
Under the title of 'Humanities Concer' she gave a lecture, answering the six questions raised regarding the drama including film scenes, songs, dance as well as the contents of the drama story.
One of the spectators, Prof. Lee Yong-Kwan of the University of Suwon, said that he was impressed by the 'fantastic' drama. He is the current president of Shakespeare Association of Korea.
'Shakespeare's <Romeo and Juliet > was presented in a diverse and unique way. Some major scenes were selected and performed in acting, dancing, vocal music, opera, film, and so on,' he mentioned. 'In particular, Kim Han, emeritus professor of Dongkuk University, gave a critical commentary on each scene. It was an amazing ensemble'.
He said that director's marvelous creativity was impressive as well and minister's sermons was also impressive.
'I was astonished by Shinchon Church's idea to preach the gospel to unbelievers in an indirect cultural approach,' he said.
Another viewer, Rev. Yang Gui-Won, was another admirer of the play. He serves as pastor of Seongbuk Evangelical Church.
'It's too bad it ends in one performance. It is a program that should be introduced to public broadcasting,' the paster said.
-from the first page, Saturday, June 2, 2018. THE SEOUL TIMES