Published : Dec. 18, 2012 - 18:59
A theater festival in Daejeon is seeking to revive expat drama in the city.
Supported by the Daejeon International Cultural Center, the Daejeon Play Festival at Jung-gu Culture Center will be staged Saturday by Daejeon Dionysus Drama Group in partnership with Seoul Players.
The festival will feature five plays from an expat theater favorite ― David Ives’ collection of short plays called “All in the Timing” ― as well as the restaging by Seoul Players of a short play, “Jinxed,” from their 10 Minute Play Festival.
Dionysus Drama Group was set up a few years ago, but the organizers said it became defunct as people moved away, until a group of expats with performance backgrounds decided to revive it.
“We don’t have much theater in Daejeon ― or much of anything in that regard ― directed toward foreigners,” said Elissa Jo Roberts, who is leading the festival and also directing Ives’ “Sure Thing.”
“And my friend and I were discussing it for a time and we just decided that the only way it was going to happen was if we decided to create it ourselves.”
Jo Krukowski, who is directing “Variations on the Death of Trotsky,” said the attraction of Ives’ collection was the inclusivity and flexibility it gave them.
“We got together and decided a series of short plays would be great because then we could maximize the number of people involved,” she said, adding that the fact that it was not a full-scale production meant they could gauge commitment and what they could do.
“I think it’s not too high brow but it’s really intelligent and really funny,” she said. “I think that the Daejeon community will really get into it.
“I think the best kind of theater is the kind that comments on your own life and I think David Ives’ plays do that very well.”
The festival will feature five plays from the collection: four by Dionysus and one by Seoul Players. Roberts said that the theme of many of them ― miscommunication ― would appeal to an expat audience.
“They are about the randomness of people and trying to connect people together. A lot of the plays deal with people trying to connect but they keep failing. Many different scenarios can create a relationship but only one will be the right one,” said Roberts.
“In a lot of the shows we have a bell or a buzzer that will signal the end of a conversation exchange where it fails, and then eventually the characters will come together at the end of the play. But it takes many different failed attempts before that happens.
“Most people really understand that because if you’ve ever tried to date anybody you know there are many ways to do it and many ways to fail at it as well.”
The group hopes to move on to bigger productions in future, and when not working toward a play, the group runs improv classes.
There will also be a small bazaar in the foyer of the center during the festival, with stalls selling expat-made arts, crafts and baked goods.
“I wanted to bring together theater and people who do arts and people who just want to get involved … I just wanted to create a good foundation so that possibly we could do something more cohesive and build something together,” said Roberts.
The performances start Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are 5,000 won and will be available on the door.
For more information, visit the Daejeon Play Festival page on Facebook.
By Paul Kerry (
paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)