The Asia Culture Center (ACC), Korea's national arts complex in Gwangju, will stage its first original production of the year — an ambitious collaboration project with local artists in the Gwangju and South Jeolla region that has drawn growing community interest.
Titled "Gieonchi, Spring," carrying the hopeful message that "spring will come no matter how long the winter lasts," the production features two teams selected through an open call for regional directors last spring. After a year of collaborative development, the teams will present two works on stage in April and May: contemporary dance piece "Heok-Hug" and pansori-based music theater "Atta, Mr. Gubo."
"Heok-Hug" combines the Korean word "heok," meaning an intake of breath, with the English word "hug," an embrace between bodies. The piece asks "are you okay?" amid tragedies such as war and disaster that have become all too familiar. The production features a distinctive staging technique in which dancers' movements are filmed and projected in real time on stage.
"Atta, Mr. Gubo" is a music theater adaptation of Park Tae-won's classic novel "A Day in the Life of Novelist Mr. Gubo." The story depicts a novelist named "Gubo" in 1930s Gyeongseong (colonial-era Seoul) and an aspiring writer named "Gu Bo-ram" living in 2020s Seoul, connected across time through radio waves.
Pansori vocalist Kim So-jin, who performed in ACC's hit pansori series "Two Eyes" (2021), and Lee Seo-hee, a resident member of the Gwangju Metropolitan Changgeuk Company, will portray the two characters with nuanced emotional depth.
Both works will premiere in Gwangju this spring before moving directly to Seoul stages through a partnership with Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture's Daehangno Theater Quad, a public production venue. The arrangement is expected to help revitalize the regional arts ecosystem and expand the creative base by giving local artists' works the opportunity to reach wider audiences.
ACC said it plans to continue supporting and collaborating with public theaters at home and abroad to further diversify and expand creative activities.
"Heok-Hug" runs April 17–18 at ACC Theater 1 and May 8–9 at Daehangno Theater Quad in Seoul. "Atta, Mr. Gubo" runs April 24–25 at ACC Theater 1 and May 15–16 at Daehangno Theater Quad.
"Starting with this 'Gieonchi, Spring' project, we will continue to expand collaboration between regional artists and theaters," ACC Director Kim Sang-wook said. "ACC will serve as a bridge connecting creators and audiences at the center of it all."