WEBZINE ACC

“Subakdeung” is a place in Wolsan-dong, Gwangju, named after the contours of the land resembling an upside-down half of a watermelon. When one looks up “Subakdeung, Wolsan-dong” on a Korean search engine, one finds nothing much beyond talks of redevelopment. Perhaps the fate of Subakdeung was to be forgotten slowly, just like that. In that sense, this performance certainly seems to have great significance. This work is a performance adapted from the first-prize winner of the 2018 ACC Story Contest, “Children of Subakdeung” (original by Cho Hong-jun), and was a highly anticipated work from its very conception.

# Story of “Subakdeung” in the past and future

The original work, “Children of Subakdeung,” describes what happened in Subakdeung, Gwangju, in May 1980, more than 40 years ago, from a young child’s perspective. The memory is one of frustration, as the child is prohibited from playing on Subakdeung, but the story moves onto a different puzzle coming together as the hidden truths of that day come to light. The children who would have wanted to play on Subakdeung that day are now in their 40s and 50s.

The performance “Children of Subakdeung” does not recreate the event of the past but rather summons the events to a story 40 years later. What problems will we face? What are the problems that Gwangju and humanity face? The spirit of May 1980 overlaps with the problems we face in the present.

The first thing I noticed about the performance venue was the stage, which only consisted of chairs. The setting of the performance is a day more than 40 years ago when everything was under a power known as the “System.” Three ordinary children, known as Hong-joon, Yeonji, and Ikseok, all have their free will taken by the System.

There are forbidden thoughts, emotions, and words. In this world under control, we see a story that happened somewhere that could happen sometime. We, in other words, see the past 40 years ago and the future 40 years later together.

2022 “Children of Subakdeung” showcase

# The May spirit continues

As the children begin to wonder about the past, the “System” warns them not to, finally resorting to mind-wiping Hong-joon’s memories with its re-socialization program. Hong-joon is about to accept, but Yeonji tells him that erasing one’s memory is tantamount to one’s self disappearing.

The children escape the “System” and enter Subakdeung, the forbidden area. Entry to “Subakdeung” was forbidden due to toxic materials and waste, but the children, having reached the place by braving many dangers, find hope there.

In fact, Subakdeung is not a poisoned and toxic wasteland, as they were told; it is a beautiful place that still retains the appearance of the old Earth, back before the ecosystem was damaged. By confronting the power and their misplaced beliefs, the children come face-to-face with the hidden truth. They are finally able to experience nature rather than artificial things.

Subakdeung is also where the children come into contact with Sang-mok, a cyborg who still retains the memory of the May 18 Uprising in Gwangju. Having protected Subakdeung for over 100 years, fighting the “System” along the way, Sang-mok tells the children as the androids sent by the System lay a siege to Subakdeung.

To protect the trio, Sang-mok closes the entrance to the sanctuary and sets off to the final battlefield with a battle cry of human dignity and freedom.

The performance “Children of Subakdeung” is a “contemporary re-interpretation of the spirit of May 1980” through the overlap of past and future stories in Subakdeung. In some ways, the story is not yet over. It is, in fact, a story that is to continue.

What will we fight in the future? The performance offered an opportunity for us to project the concerns of humanity today, such as societies under surveillance from massive systems, the conflict between humanity and machinery, and environmental problems, and to imagine the near future.

To develop stories unique to Gwangju and tell them in ways that only Gwangju can, creating new content at the ACC has massive significance. The ACC plans to collect feedback through this showcase from the audience and the experts to enhance the performance’s significance and sophistication for the main 2023 premiere. I look forward to seeing the completed product in “Children of Subakdeung.”

2022 “Pilgrimage to Far East Siberia” poster

The next performance that I am looking forward to in the ACC is the performance “Pilgrimage to Far East Siberia,” which will be put onstage from October 20 to 23, 2022. “Pilgrimage to Far East Siberia” is a performance based on the theater script “Pilgrimage to Far East Siberia” (adapted by Jeong Jin-sae), developed through the 2020 ACC Theater Development Project, which, in turn, was based on 2020’s 2nd ACC Story Contest Excellence Award winner, “Travel” (originally by Byun Young-hoo).

This joint production between the ACC and the “National Theater Company of Korea” is a story of the Nameless One (who walks the Camino de Santiago backward), the Korea Meteorological Administration’s researchers AA and BB (who track the Nameless One through satellite), and game users (who watch all this unfold).

While nobody knows why the Nameless One is walking through the harsh Siberian environment, many users who walk the online pilgrimage join the Nameless One on this background pilgrimage. Join these characters on this journey to a place far away.