The National Jeongdong Theater has announced its season lineup to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
On the morning of the 4th, a press conference was held at the National Jeongdong Theater in Jung-gu, Seoul, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the theater and announce the lineup. CEO Jeong Seong-sook, Cultural Business Team Leader Lee Soo-hyun, and Performance Planning Team Leader Park Jin-wan attended.
CEO Jeong Seong-sook stated, "The year 2025 is a significant year as the National Jeongdong Theater celebrates its 30th anniversary. Therefore, we have put more thought into this year's Jeongdong season lineup to make it more abundant. We aimed to create a lineup that commemorates the theater's 30 years and envisions its future."
The year 2025 is conceptualized as the 30th anniversary of the National Jeongdong Theater, with a rich array of performances celebrating the milestone at both the 'National Jeongdong Theater' and 'National Jeongdong Theater Cecil'. This year's offerings will include a total of 444 performances across 21 pieces, consisting of 2 new original works, 3 representative repertoire planning performances, 3 collaborative performances, 3 Cecil planning performances, and 10 selected works from the 'Creating' series.
The works include 2 new original pieces: ▲ K-Culture Series 'DanSim', a traditional music drama 'Seopyeonje; The Original' produced for the 30th anniversary, and 3 representative repertoire planning performances for the 30th anniversary: ▲ Pansori Musical 'Jeokbyeok', Musical 'Showman: The Fourth Stand-in of a Dictator', K-Culture Series 'Gwangdae', 3 collaborative performances: ▲ Dance 'Dance Sketch' with regional city dance troupes (Mokpo, Busan, Ulsan, Iksan), a dance 'Nyeong, Prince's Path' co-planned with Art Rover, and a creative musical 'Light the Cheongsa Chorong' co-planned with the Seoul Arts Company and the National Jeongdong Theater. The 3 performances at Cecil Theater include ▲ Traditional Dance of Our Era 'Cecil Pungnyu - Dokgak and Deukmu', Cecil planning performance play 'Good Morning Hong Kong', traditional creative incubating 'Youth Blossoms', and a series of creative works selected through an open call, with 10 works from 'Creating' including ▲ Play 'Dobiwala', 'Fig Eaten at Night', 'Curtain', 'Drag x Male Gentleman', Musical 'On a Sunny Day', 'Apple in the Pool', Traditional '50Hz', 'Pansori Sut Story 2 - Maupassant', Dance 'Miyal', 'Desolate Land' included in the lineup. In addition to stage performances, an end-of-year online performance service 'Jeongdong Line Theater' will also be held.
CEO Jeong Seong-sook emphasized, "The National Jeongdong Theater has never stopped taking on new challenges. It has grown by adapting to audience demands, the winds of the times, and changes in the performance environment. Starting this year, as part of 'Unceasing Leap Towards the Future', the National Jeongdong Theater will take the lead in globalizing Korean traditional performance content. We will expand our spectrum towards the world with traditional performances that embody Korean culture and widely promote the pride of Korean culture."
The National Jeongdong Theater has also announced plans for future spectrum expansion through reconstruction. The reconstruction project is underway with a goal of completion by 2029, planning to include one medium-sized performance hall with 550 seats and one small performance hall with 265 seats.
CEO Jeong Seong-sook reflected, "Looking back at the 30-year history of the theater, the National Jeongdong Theater has flexibly evolved while expanding its spectrum over the years. Through this turning point of reconstruction, we will further broaden our spectrum," and urged, "Please look forward to the new history of the National Jeongdong Theater that will be written in the future."
[Shin Young-eun, Star Today Reporter]
