WEBZINE ACC

"Exterior and interior view of the ACC Theater 1. ⓒ Asia Culture Center (Exterior photo by Timothy Hursley)
When you open the big door, it connects to the outdoor space."

The ACC Theater features the largest black box performance space in South Korea. The black box performance space indeed resembles an empty box, as its name suggests. The black box performance space is quite different in form and function from the traditional proscenium-style (or Italian-style) theaters, where the stage and seating face each other in a fixed arrangement. There are often occasions for introducing the theater to external guests or directors who come to create a new performance with us. When you open the heavy door and step into the black box, it’s almost guaranteed that you will say, “Wow!” The vast space both challenges and overwhelms artists, provoking them to push their boundaries. One day, while escorting the guests out and closing the door behind me, I found myself standing alone in the empty black box once again. As I stared at the space, I couldn’t help but ponder, “What kind of performances, artists, and audience is this black box waiting for?”

French director and scenographer*, Jacques Roubert said, “The theater is an instrument composed of two areas, the stage and the auditorium. Depending on the connection method between the auditorium and the stage, the stage and the audience create different configurations, various ‘theatrical space diagrams’ each time.” Indeed, staging a performance in a black box is not only about filling the empty space with new imagination, narrative, and artistic form, but also about how to establish the relationship between the stage and the audience, the performance and the spectators. In the black box, the audience experiences something entirely different from what they would in a proscenium space. It often demands a more proactive attitude and places them in a different position as participants in the performance.

* The scenographer plays a role in conceiving the space for the performance, actively engaging in the performance by using various visual effects and architectural spatial elements, and constructing independent meaning.

First, let’s think about the experience of watching a play in a proscenium theater. The audience is “confined” to their assigned seats, primarily facing the stage directly, with limited mobility. During the one or two hours of the performance, the audience often views the unfolding spectacle before them with a gaze of admiration and respect. In theater or music performances, artists who take the stage on a proscenium are often regarded as virtuosos*. This is my personal experience, but I often find myself in awe of the human existence when I watch them perform. Indeed, witnessing their abilities and efforts, I often find myself in admiration and feel motivated to improve my own skills. I have left the theater on numerous occasions with a sense of determination.

* Virtuoso is a title given to great musicians or artists who demonstrate exceptional skill and technique in their performances.

Christopher Small, a musicologist who critically examines music performances, stated that “contemporary concerts reflect a highly specialized modern production system that emphasizes efficiency through the strict separation of producers (performers) and consumers (audience).” While his semiotic analysis of music concerts may seem excessive to some, personally, I often find myself looking at the virtuosos on stage and aspiring to become a more remarkable person. I think that aspiring to become a more productive aligns with the ideal of being a modern human who actively enhances productivity. The planning of the “modern and contemporary” concert may have been successful.

2023 Art Theater’s Original Production, <A Time Painter>. ⓒ Asia Culture Center
[Link] Performance Information for <A Time Painter> (2023. 5. 17. In-person performance)

A performance that is well integrated with black box creates a different experience for the audience. <A Time Painter> is an ACC production that has been performed in our black box theater every May since 2019. It is a performance that seamlessly integrates the theater with the black box architecture, to the extent that the architecture itself serves as the foundation of the artwork. The story unfolds as the 90-seat movable seating (expanded to 140 seats in 2023) rotates around all sides of the theater. The movable seating is positioned at the edge of the theater, and when the seats face the theater walls, it presents ordinary recollection scenes. When the seats’ viewpoint moves towards the expansive side of the theater, it predominantly shows the protagonist’s imagined world inside their mind. In this performance, which incorporates the mechanisms of a grand theater into the content and form of the show, the audience moves around in all directions and becomes aware of their own position as an active participant in history’s experiences. However, in almost the final moments, as the movable seating seemingly glides over the body of a fallen woman with the sound of tanks, the audience realizes that in fact we all may have been helpless bystanders. The impact that the fall creates. In the black box of <A Time Painter>, the audience sits on movable seats and continuously reassesses their own position, pondering what kind of citizen they are or what kind of citizen they might become.

2022 Montreal CINARS Biennale <Until we die>. ⓒ Asia Culture Center

There are performances (or black box shows) that demand a more active role from the audience. Artwork titled <Until we die> that I watched at last year’s Montreal CINARS Biennale. It was an immersive performance* that combined circus and theater, held at Arsenal Art Contemporain, a warehouse-like venue similar in size to our theater. There are no separate seating areas for the audience. Various scenes unfold sporadically in different locations within the black box, and the audience is free to move around the theater, selecting scenes they want to see and actively participating in the performance. You can weave the scenes together with a narrative focus, or lightly enjoy the performance, similar to attending a concert with a focus on circus and music. If there were 1,000 audience members, each with their own unique experience, it would create 1,000 different performances since everyone’s experience would be different. It could be said that within the liberated black box environment, the audience has been granted the authority to create their own performance, essentially taking on the role of a director. Considering the fact that the audience could sit or climb onto the stage set and freely approach it, as well as the remarkable flow of the audience gathering and dispersing, it seems that the audience was even granted the role of actor in this performance.

* Immersive performances, which are created with a focus on the audience’s “experience,” allow the audience to be active participants in the performance, sometimes even guiding the direction of the performance.

Compared to the traditional proscenium setting, which clearly separates the stage from the audience and defines the boundaries between artists and spectators, this performance, where the audience’s position is not fixed and they transcend the roles of director and actor, has significant implications.

What kind of performance is our black box waiting for? What kind of performance is our black box waiting for, and in what way are we hoping to establish a relationship with the audience? Despite the “Wow!” exclamation as we entered the theater, we eventually opt for forming a proscenium within the black box. There’s no need to mention the direct impact and emotional effect that the proscenium format gives us. However, wouldn’t the black box be waiting to meet the audience in a new way that highlights its own personality? We are trying to start again, in the words of the French poet and playwright, Valere Novarina.

[Link] Performance Record of A Time Painter