Finally underway. The writer's meeting was a little frustrating yesterday, 
with much of it taking place without translation, but it was nevertheless a good feeling to be together.
Then this morning we went to Joyful Theatre's base in Taereung, and everybody who will be involved in the week here met up. Choi Seung Yeon [Yeon Choi] , who is the designer and chief english-korean translator, flew in just today from Adelaide, and all of the actors assembled. There are five who have graduated from KNUA, three from Joyful Theatre, plus one from Japan, Tatsuo, and the two from the UK, Ian and Ali. Several combinations of the group have met before, but many have not.
We had a gentle but encouraging introduction session, and then together we went across to an elementary school, where Mijeong led a workshop with a lively group of 8 year olds. It went well, focusing on the kinds of issue the school groups had raised in December, and encompassing quite a range of activities.
with much of it taking place without translation, but it was nevertheless a good feeling to be together.Then this morning we went to Joyful Theatre's base in Taereung, and everybody who will be involved in the week here met up. Choi Seung Yeon [Yeon Choi] , who is the designer and chief english-korean translator, flew in just today from Adelaide, and all of the actors assembled. There are five who have graduated from KNUA, three from Joyful Theatre, plus one from Japan, Tatsuo, and the two from the UK, Ian and Ali. Several combinations of the group have met before, but many have not.
We had a gentle but encouraging introduction session, and then together we went across to an elementary school, where Mijeong led a workshop with a lively group of 8 year olds. It went well, focusing on the kinds of issue the school groups had raised in December, and encompassing quite a range of activities.
The school was not typical, in that it had a strong focus on english language, and this was strangely a slight barrier, because the desire to practise english sometimes dominated at the expense of what we were exploring. But once beyond that, many things that the children came out with were fascinating. The stand-out section was where they
expressed their anxieties about the world, with strong images such as the idea of the half-earth [like a half-moon, with half of the globe consumed by darkness] and rainbows, shadows, decay....
expressed their anxieties about the world, with strong images such as the idea of the half-earth [like a half-moon, with half of the globe consumed by darkness] and rainbows, shadows, decay....At one point they were doing an exercise where they had to go to yes or no ends of the room in response to questions. One question was, 'Are you afraid of the dark. One girl was at the yes end, and then ran across. Asked why, she thought a little and then said, 'Iam not afraid of the dark - the dark is beautiful, with stars in the sky...I am just afraid of being alone in the dark'
The children were extremely tactile and physical, notably with Ian and Sang Hun, whom they climbed all over.
There was a full video and some audio recorded, and a full writer's meeting after the session to decide the plan for tomorrow.
1 comment:
OK just to demonstrate the level of dirorientation involved in this trip...this 'monday' was in fact a Tuesday...sorry for any confusion.
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