Suwon Cultural Foundation

The 2018 Suwon Theatre Festival was an amazing success with 150,000 people in attendance. Over 3 days from the 25th to the 27th of last month, Suwon Theatre Festival, held at Gyeonggi Sangsang Campus, hosted 86 amazing performances by 35 artists and groups from around the world. With the catchphrase 'party in the forest', many shows were staged including street arts, circuses, air performances etc. blending well with the natural environment. The opening performance ‘Mobile Homme’ by Transe Express(France) especially received great applause from the outdoor audience with their 2 amazing performances. The heart wrenching performance by a female acrobat and 6 drummers in toy soldier costumes hanging from a massive 100ton crane was enough to excite the eyes of the audience crowd. This was followed by 'D-Construction' by Dyptik(France), hip-hop artists portraying scenes of tension and liberation dancing to a powerful beat with a wire fence setup. Next was 'Birdmen' by Close-Act Theatre(Netherlands) which really enthused the kids in the audience with their amazing simulation of pterosaurs. The main closing performance, 'Song of Fire' by Hwarang Art Pyrotechnics, metaphorically expressed the meaning of labor and decline of craftsmanship through a story of people living together with fire. Also, 'Bad Impulse' by Momggol, intricately portraying human instincts through the buoyant movements of a huge ladder, and 'Creative Dandi' by Dandi Fable, making the wall their stage using crane and ropes, simultaneously expressed both the hope and despair of young people who are referred to nowadays as the Sampo (3 give ups) Generation (generation that gives up on courtship, marriage and childbirth). Different to standard one-sided performances with the audience just watching, this festival especially focused on audience participation leading to some exciting interactions. Additionally, there were diverse lighting arts using the forest as the stage. There were 10 lighting works constructed jointly with Feelux Lighting Museum, numerous LED balloons of different shapes and colors spread all around the festival venue, and these all blended harmoniously with the hundreds of flickering firefly lights on trees in an attempt to create a space with a light festival feel.