Korean Theatre Research Articles

The identity of paradoxes in contemporary Korean theater: ideals versus realities

The identity of paradoxes in contemporary Korean theater: ideals versus realities

O Chang-gun’s Toenail and the Canonization of Korean Theater Since South Korean Society’s Democratic Transition

O Chang-gun’s Toenail and the Canonization of Korean Theater Since South Korean Society’s Democratic Transition

Women Playwrights at the Crossroads: A Comparative Study of Ireland and Korea in the Mid-Twentieth Century

This paper examines plays by Irish and Korean women playwrights whose work is often neglected in their national canons and in the male-dominated theatre scene of the mid-twentieth century. The cases of Ireland and Korea overlap in compelling ways with discussions of modernity that are being reconstructed from the perspectives of colonial subjugation (under Britain and Japan) and wartime experience (in the Irish Civil War of 1922-23 and Korean War of 1950-53). There is a close relationship between these women writers’ marginalised place in their respective countries’ literary and theatrical scene and the process of Irish and Korean modernisation. The paper conducts a comparative analysis of works by Teresa Deevy, Kim Ja-rim, Maura Laverty and Jeon Ok-joo, highlighting the various thematic, political and formal strategies that these playwrights adopted at a time when their nations were ‘at the crossroads’. Against the grand narratives of ‘the nation’, women playwrights focused on depicting the aesthetics of daily life, emphasising aspects that had been neglected or marginalised in the discourse of modernity/coloniality. They dismantled clichés of dutiful wives and pacifist mothers, choosing instead to create complex and authentic depictions of femininity, endowing their female characters with a potent political voice in the public sphere. By reassessing their plays from a transnational feminist perspective, the paper seeks to expand feminist discourses in both Irish and Korean theatre history.

‘‘Made in Korea’’: Tradition and Transculturality in Changgeuk Lear

Abstract: Changgeuk Lear of the National Changgeuk Company of Korea presents an intriguing case of interculturalism. Produced in 2022 by an elite creative team representative of Korean theatre , Lear is remarkable for its lack of traditional spectacles that have characterized many Korean Shakespeare performances. This essay analyzes the transcultural esthetics of changgeuk Lear in comparison to the Koreanized spectacle of changgeuk Romeo and Juliet (2009), placing both productions in the history of changgeuk and the efforts to popularize the genre in the global age. The ontology of Lear is underpinned by a new notion of living tradition promoted by Kim Sung-Nyeo, which I relate to the concept of transculturation. I propose to reclaim the term transculturality for intercultural performance discourses, thereby deconstructing the false dichotomy of Korea as tradition and the West as modernity. Through a dynamic fusion of traditional chang and global art forms , changgeuk Lear creates a transcultural “K-opera” that represents a renewed sense of Koreanness .

한국 연극학계의 수행성 연구에 관한 메타비평 Ⅰ

This study is a meta-criticism of Performance Studies conducted in the Korean theater academia from 2000 to 2023 on the subject of performativity and theater. The subjects of the study are 100 domestic academic papers published in domestic academic journals, and the purpose of the study is to reveal the overall trends, limitations, and significance of the Korean Performance Studies.
 As a resul t of anal yzing the research patterns into four categories: materiality, semiotics, media, and aesthetics, performance studies were mainly limited to genre aesthetics, and there was a lack of research on the communication methods of materiality at various levels, and problems with methodological techniques in the writing process.
 The most significant fact is that the Korean traditional performance and modern and contemporary theater have begun to be reread and reflected under the keyword of performativity. In addition, Korean Performance Studies have been conducted on how to use it in various areas and expand it into life beyond theater arts.

MASK DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS IN KOREAN TRADITIONAL HAHOE MASK DANCE THEATER

The article analyses the specifi cs of masks making and design in the traditional Korean theater of Hahoe masks, considered in the context of the present. The specifi city of the integration of Hahoe mask dance theater as a phenomenon of traditional arts and crafts into the space of perception of modern spectators is determined. The article contains an overview of the features of art design and the perception of masks by the modern spectators due to these features.

문화다양성 정책 관점에서의 한국연극 동향 분석

This study aimed to figure out the trends of Korean theatre from the perspective of cultural diversity policies. The cultural diversity policies have mainly focused on the social minorities' culture and art activities and participation in Korea, which means that there is a relative shortage of discussion about the diversity of art. The study analyzed the achievements and limitations of cultural diversity policies in South Korea, and distinguished the diversity of art according to intrinsic and extrinsic criteria. Also analyzed in the study were reviews published in Critiques of Theatre for the last six years(2015~2020) based on the criteria of artistic diversity. The analysis results show that the diversity of art in the field not only accepted extrinsic diversity including the nationality, gender, and regional diversity of those who participated and enjoyed, but also realized the values of diversity including the content and formal diversity of artistic works.

페터 바이스 초기 연극 『보험』의 매체 연출과 감각성에 관하여

The purpose of this study is to examine the directing techniques of the German playwright Peter Weiss. Weiss' documentary theater theory is well known in the field of Korean theater, but there have been few theoretical discussions on his plays. Therefore, this study aims to reveal the overall aesthetic theory of Weiss plays. Weiss was influenced by the historical avant-garde of the early 20th century. He created his own stage production theory by working in multiple media across paintings, prose, films, and plays. He also performed a total play that stimulates not only sight and hearing but also smell by combining his film aesthetics. In particular, the early work Insurance was a sensuous media play influenced by surrealist films, which laid the foundation for the aesthetics of Weiss directing. Therefore, this paper analyzes the stage production method using film techniques, focusing on Weiss' early play Insurance. First, this paper explores the unique principles and methods of stage reproduction of Weiss, and next, examines the function of media production in relation to sensory expression. The finding of the research suggests a new possibility of how the problems of sense and politics, which have been explained only aesthetically in the play, can actually cause an effect between the actor and the audience. This study demonstrates how senses function politically in Insurance by taking philosophical and neuroscience views beyond aesthetics. The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the media production method of Insurance and the sense, revealing another way of resistance from the protest performance of documentary plays in Weiss's political drama.

The “Homosexual Code” in Contemporary Korean Theatre: The Case of Shakespeare’s R & J in Seoul

This essay critiques the vogue of “the homosexual code” in contemporary Korean theatre, with a close-up analysis of ShowNote Company’s Shakespeare’s R & J that premiered in 2018. It first examines the surge of queer-themed films and theatres since the mid-2000s in relation to the growing visibility of homosexuality, the changing concept of masculinity, the “flower boy” syndrome, and neoliberalism in South Korea. Defining the “homosexual code” as a distancing strategy of encoding homosexuality to bypass homophobia, I problematize the way queer subject is appropriated for novelty and spectacle in the theatre industry. The second part of the essay examines ShowNote’s R & J in depth, partly in response to a recent discussion of Choo Min Ju’s Our Bad Magnet (2012) by Claire Maria Chambers. Pointing to a close resemblance between the two, I argue that both shows adopt the established formula of “the homosexual code,” contingent upon the neoliberal ideology of commodification and consumerism.

Soviet Culture and Soviet Koreans (1920-1930)

The author examines the problems of proletarian (Soviet) culture, its inception, and activities of the creative intelligentsia of the Soviet Koreans. In the USSR, the leaders paid great attention to the liquidation of illiteracy, youth education, and the formation of the Soviet Korean Culture in the 1920-1930. During this period, Soviet authorities opened two pedagogical colleges and teachers training institutes, newspapers and magazines were published in the Korean language, and selected works of Korean Proletarian writers were published. Soviet cultural policy contributed to the development of Korean Culture. In 1932, Soviet Koreans created the Korean theater; artists, musicians, painters, and poets appeared among Korean youth.

Hollywood in Print—Movie Programmes of a Korean Theater in Ethnically Segregated Kyǒngsǒng in the 1920s and the Reception of Hollywood Prestige Pictures

Hollywood in Print—Movie Programmes of a Korean Theater in Ethnically Segregated Kyǒngsǒng in the 1920s and the Reception of Hollywood Prestige Pictures

Ethnocultural and business organizations of the Korean diaspora in Kazakhstan (1991-2020)

Sociocultural processes that have taken place over the past three decades in the former Soviet republics are in the limelight of political, economic, and historical research. The Korean diaspora of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the object of particular interest, as it reflects the essence of the national political course and the level of development of democratic institutions in the country. Special attention is given to ethnocultural and business diasporic organizations and institutions of the Kazakh Koreans. The period from 1991 to 2020 demonstrates fruitful activity of the diaspora in the area of ethnic policy, establishment of domestic and international business relations. The last 30 years mark the renaissance of national culture of the Koreans in Kazakhstan due to the work of the Korean theater, performance groups, and educational centers across the country. This article discusses the following questions: institutionalization of the Korean diaspora in Kazakhstan; special role of the institutions in preservation of the centers of ethnic culture; impact of the activity of diasporic structures upon the relations with the state and historical homeland; functional role of ethnic organizations in socialization of the members of the diaspora and their advancement in the economic and political spheres. The answers to these questions define the relevance and novelty of this research in studying the problems of historical and national development of the new independent states of the post-Soviet region.

Performing Democracy on Stage: ToBakYi’s Kumhi’s May and the Politics of Mourning in South Korea

This article investigates the relationship between grief and democracy by focusing on the South Korean Theatre Company ToBakYi’s 1988 production of Kumhi’s May—one of the first plays to dramatize the 1980 Gwangju Uprising and the state-sanctioned military massacre therein in the time of South Korea’s transition from military dictatorship to democratic rule. Demonstrating how theatre grapples with state-led violence in the recent past, I argue that theatre facilitates democracy by interrupting the state’s regulation of whose deaths are entitled to the public’s grief, creating a space where it challenges the state’s attempt to jettison those it murdered from the collective memories. Drawing on my archival research and interviews with the troupe and the family dramatized in the play, this article shows how ToBakYi made theatre an alternative cultural space where those deaths which state-sanctioned archives obliterate arise into communal memories.

A New Approach to Inter-Korean Issues by Contemporary South Korean Theatre: With a Focus on the Division Trilogy by Creative VaQi

A New Approach to Inter-Korean Issues by Contemporary South Korean Theatre: With a Focus on the Division Trilogy by Creative VaQi

‘내면 연기’ 연구

Naemyun Acting(Inner acting) is the acting term used only in Korea. Fact means acting in a realistic act or speech act based on a psychological acting methodology. This inner acting debate was first begun by An Chi-woon. Afterwards, Kim Bang-ok''s thesis and the debate between the two revealed various characteristics of inner acting, but unfortunately the debate did not continue. This study starts from the modernity of inner research which An Chi-woon said. We have examined how the term inner acting is connected with the modernization of Korea, how through which forms and methodologies peculiar to inner acting were initiated and maintained, and finally, through political implications. In the end, inner acting is a kind of transformation formed by neo-classicists, realist theatricians, who form the mainstream of Korean theater. Despite no mention of inner acting anywhere in the world, it is definitely a unique phenomenon of Korean theater. The political implications of the term internal acting and modernity, form and formation of inner acting, and inner acting are discussed by the neo-extremists who are the product of Korean modernization and still forming the mainstream of Korean theater. Their utility and value are exaggeratedly packed to the top of an exclusive hierarchy. Therefore, the discourse about inner acting should be expanded and deepened. This study is a fragment of that expectation and hope.

Ethnic and diasporic self-consciousness of the Korean diaspora of modern Kazakhstan through the prism of sociocultural processes

This article focuses on the phenomenon of Korean diaspora in Kazakhstan – a unique phenomenon in the diaspora studies. Having a racial-anthropological homogeneity with the inhabitants of Korean Peninsula, the Koreans of Kazakhstan have lost multiple ethnic traits: native language, anthroponymy, blood relationships on their historical homeland. Despite this fact, the representatives of Korean ethnos identify themselves as part of the ancient Korean culture, honor their native traditions, and state their nationality as “Korean” in the population census. An important role in conveyance of culture and spiritual values of the diaspora is played by public organizations. The Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, Association of the Koreans of Kazakhstan, State Republican Academic Korean Theater of Musical Comedy, and Korean House are the anchors that support the diaspora and contribute to preservation of historical belonging and self-consciousness. Methodological framework is comprised of historiographical analysis of the works of Korean studies scholars dedicated to the history of Korean diaspora in Central Asia, monitoring of the legislative framework of Kazakhstan and news agenda, interviews of individual representatives of the diaspora. The conducted research proves that diasporality is a more vital form of preservation of ethnocultural identity than the ethnic attribution by linguistic or anthropological principle. Living far from their historical homeland for centuries, the representatives of Koryo-Saram continue identifying themselves as Koreans. They have gone through the key stages of assimilation, integrated into the system of social relations, and consider themselves Kazakhs of Korean descent. As long as the indicated ethnocultural group acknowledges its uniqueness and difference from other ethnic groups of Kazakhstan, the diasporic self-consciousness, Korean diaspora and its institutions would exists.

Domesticity in the trilogies of Sean O’Casey and Yu Ch'i-jin

This article examines Sean O’Casey and Yu Ch’i-jin’s portrayal of the domestic realm in the Dublin Trilogy of the 1920s and Nongchon Trilogy of the 1930s, respectively. Yu is indebted to O’Casey for his themes and style in playwrighting, for he saw O’Casey’s works as models for his own dramatic depictions of colonial Korea. A close study of Yu’s approach and the two trilogies reveal that his “deep-rooted admiration” for O’Casey does not indicate Yu’s aims to Westernize Korean theatre, but rather reveals his desire to impact the Korean audiences with realistic depictions of their everyday struggles. Using Lionnet and Shih’s idea of “minor transnationalism,” I argue that this lateral relationship is an instance of transcolonial solidarity in which Yu echoes O’Casey’s methodology to contribute to establishing a national theatre and drama tradition as did O’Casey to the Abbey Theatre.

A study on the characteristics of totalitarian propaganda in <Binghwa> of Seon-gyu Im

본고는 2019년 한국 연극계에서 있었던, 임선규의 <빙화> 공연 취소 사건을 계기로 다시 수면 위로 떠오른 <빙화>의 친일성 논란에 대해 하나의 견해를 제출하고자 하였다. 이 논문은 <빙화>가 지닌 저항적 요소, 혹은 민족주의적 요소에 대한 긍정적 평가에 대해 반론을 제기하면서 이 작품이 어떻게 이런 평가를 이끌어낼 수 있었는지, 그 극적 전략에 대해 분석해보았다. 이를 위해서 쟈끄 엘륄의 저서, <선전>을 그 분석의 방법론으로 삼았다. 정리하면, 이 논문은 임선규의 <빙화>를 ‘선전’이라는 개념을 통해 분석함으로써 이 작품의 친일성 여부를 새롭게 짚어보고자 하였다. 첫째 이 작품은 증오를 활용한 전복적 선전의 성격을 지니고 있다. <빙화>는 조선인들에게 방화, 살인, 강간을 일삼은 러시아에 대한 증오를 불러일으켜 반공산주의 선전을 함으로써 조선인들의 내면에 잠복되어 있는 공산주의에 대한 호감 등을 전복시키고자 하였다. 둘째 이 작품은 역사적 사실을 활용한 합리적 선전의 성격을 지니고 있다. <빙화>는 1937년에 실시된 러시아의 조선인 강제이주 사건이라는 역사적 사실을 제재로 하여, 합리성의 외장을 한 채 제시되고 있다. 그러나 사실과 증거에 근거한 합리적인 선전을 통해서 선전자가 이끌어내고자 하는 것은 관객들의 비합리적 반응이었다. 그것은 곧 조선인들이 자유주의, 개인주의를 청산하고 내선일체를 수용하는 것이고, 제국의 전쟁에 동참할 것을 유도하기 위한 것이었다. 셋째 이 작품은 멜로드라마를 활용한 통합선전의 성격을 지니고 있다. 통합선전의 목적은 사람들을 사회활동에 동참하게 하는 것을 목표로 한다. 임선규는 당대 관객의 교양 수준을 생각하고 멜로드라마 형식을 통해 관객들의 감수성을 자극하여 그들에게 심리적 동조를 얻어내고, 지식인 주인공을 통해 감정이입을 하게 함으로써 관객들을 총력전에 동참케 하고자 하였다. 이때 운명 조국 형제 등과 같은 민족주의적 단어들은 선전을 위한 마술적 단어들로서 사용되었다. 이 논문은 임선규의 <빙화>가 선동 선전의 세 가지 차원을 고루 실현하고 있는, 그 어떤 작품보다도 강렬하고, 명백한 친일 작품임을 밝히고자 하였다. 소재로서의 러시아 강제 이주 사건은 ‘합리적 선전’을 위한 방법론일 뿐이며, 민족주의적인 의도와는 거리가 멀다는 사실을 제기하고자 한다. 이로써, 작년에 불현듯 제기된 바 있는 <빙화> 논란에 하나의 의견을 더하고자 한다.This paper attempted to submit a point of view on the controversy over the identity of Seon-gyu Im’s “Binghwa,” which resurfaced following the cancellation of its performance in Korean theater in 2019. This paper analyzed the dramatic strategy that pertains to how this work was able to elicit such an evaluation; the paper also puts forth a counter-argument to the positive evaluation of the play’s resistance or nationalist element. Jacques Ellul’s Propaganda was used as an analytical lens. In summary, this paper attempted to reconsider whether Seon-gyu Im’s “Binghwa” reflects pro-Japanese intentions by analyzing it through the concept of propaganda. Firstly, this work uses the emotion of hatred as subversive propaganda. “Binghwa” attempts to overthrow the crushing communism that is hidden within the Korean people by promoting anti-Communist propaganda through the arousal of hatred for Russia via arson, murder, and rape. Secondly, with its utilization of historical facts, the work has the characteristics of rational propaganda. Based on the historical fact of the forced migration of Russians in 1937, “Binghwa” presents a rational exterior ; however, the intention is to use rational propaganda, based on facts and evidence, to elicit an irrational reaction from the audience. This is intended to make Koreans abandon liberalism and individualism, accept internal unity, and participate in the empire’s war. Thirdly, through its use of melodrama, the work has the characteristics of integrated propaganda, which aims to engage people in social activities. Seon-gyu Im’s intention is to involve the audience in an all-out war, which he accomplishes by assessing the audience’s level of sophistication and exploiting audience members’ sensitivity using the melodramatic form in order to elicit their psychological sympathy and encourage them to empathize with the intellectual protagonist. At this point, nationalistic words, such as “destiny,” “nation,” “brothers,” are used as magical words for propaganda. This paper’s thesis attempted to reveal that Seon-gyu Im’s “Binghwa” is a more intense and more clearly pro-Japanese work than any other work that realizes the three dimensions of propaganda. Taking forced migration to Russia as a subject is just a “rational propaganda” method, and I would like to point out that it far from proves nationalistic intentions. Thus, I would like to add one opinion to last year’s unexpected “Binghwa” controversy.

From the Editor

From the Editor Siyuan Liu After the ramlila special issue in Spring, we return to regular content with a full range of memorial essay, translation, articles, reports, emerging scholar essays, and performance and book reviews. We start with an essay by Boreth Ly and Suppya Hélène Nut in memory of the recently deceased Princess Norodom Buppha Devi (1943–2019) of Cambodia, celebrating her life and contribution to the preservation of Khmer court dance, especially its revival in the aftermath of destruction by the Khmer Rouge. By chance, there is a small cluster on the Chinese theatre, starting with Janne Risum's significant translation of the complete April 1935 minutes of the forum between Mei Lanfang and Soviet experts, at the end of Mei's Moscow tour, on Chinese theatre and its impact on Russian theatre, film, and dance. I highly recommend Risum's extensive and methodical introduction. She not only delineates and contextualizes the debate between Meyerhold and his supporters (including Eisenstein) on the one side and those with more official views on the other, but also Soviet censorship of the original transcript that resulted in various incomplete, even imagined versions in the following decades that have affected the narratives around this historic episode of intercultural exchange in the early twentieth century. We next move to two articles on a couple of prominent contemporary Chinese directors, Meng Jinghui as the standard-bearer of the avant-garde and Wang Chong as a representative of the "post-Meng" generation. In her perceptive reading, Hongjian Wang deems Meng a "cynical idealist," which complements the current "pop avant-garde" frame of Meng scholarship, while Yizhou Huang critically assesses Wang Chong's multimedia production Ibsen in One Take against his self-claimed "new wave theatre." The two other articles offer welcoming additions of less discussed areas to Asian theatre scholarship, namely popularizing [End Page v] efforts in modern Korean theatre singeuk (new drama) and the role of Armenians in establishing Western theatre in the Ottoman empire. In the former case, Jaesuk Kim utilizes contemporary publications to focus on the leading singeuk dramatist Yoo Chijin's effort to break the monopoly of realist spoken drama in the mid 1930s, with song and dance in the traditional The Story of Chunhyang and in Dorothy and DuBose Heyward's Porgy. In the latter case, Elif Baş examines both the contribution of non-Muslim minorities, especially the Armenians, who staged Western plays in Armenian and Ottoman Turkish, and the nationalist sensitivity of early Republican-era theatre critics in evaluating their contributions. Following the translation and articles are three reports on currents practices of butoh and traditional forms from Bali and India. In "We Are Not Solid Beings: Presence in Butoh, Buddhism, and Phenomenology," Sondra Fraleigh channels her decades of experience, as a butoh student, performer, and scholar, to invite readers to an eco-somatic approach to butoh that emanates from Zen Buddhism and phenomenology. I Nyoman Cerita reports on the 2018 U.S. tour of Bhumi: Mother Earth, a production by the Bali-based Sanggar Çudamani (Çudamani Studio) with a focus on present environmental issues. Finally, Deepsikha Chatterjee offers a detailed and technical examination of the making of masks and costumes in Ankiya Bhaona, a form of ritual masked performance from the Assam region of India. This year's three emerging scholar essays all focus on East Asia. Echoing Risum's discussion of Mei Lanfang's 1935 Soviet tour, Chao Guo examines Mei's earlier tours to Japan and the United States in 1919 and 1930 as reflections of the cultural anxiety by anti-traditional new culture intellectuals as well as traditional theatre artists and their intellectual allies. Sebastian Samur similarly echoes Fraleigh's focus on butoh, with a study of the choreographies of Muramatsu Takuya from Dairakudakan, the world's largest butoh troupe, although Samur relies on Henri Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis as a theoretical framework. In the final emerging scholar essay, Y.J Hwang utilizes Giorgio Agamben's concept of Homo Sacer—that state violence erases individual victims' most basic information concerning their deaths—to analyze the performance of cultural memory of the April 3 Incident (1948) in the Jeju Peace Memorial Park of Korea's...

A Study on the Immanent Meaning of Spatiality in the Small Theaters of Daehaekro by the ZMET

본 연구는 최근 현대 연극 공간의 인문학적인 연구에 발맞추어 새로운 접근법으로 한국 연극의 중심지인 대학로 소극장에 대한 연극 종사자 및 관객들의 내재적인 의식을 분석했다. 마케팅 분석 기법 중의 하나인 은유추출기법(ZMET)을 활용하여 대학로 소극장에 대한 공유개념을 추출해서 소극장 공간의 동시대의 문화적 의미를 다시 확인해 볼 수 있었다. 분석 결과, 대학로 소극장의 공유개념은 ‘소극장의 현장성’이라는 핵심구성개념을 중심으로 ‘감동과 흥분’이라는 정서적 가치를 우선시하며, 관람객의 측면에서는 ‘공감과 교류’를, 연극종사자들을 측면에서는 ‘꿈과 낭만’을 보여주고 있다. ‘소극장의 현장성’은 공연을 통해 관람객들에게 ‘다양한 경험과 대리만족’이라는 구성개념에 강한 영향을 주고 있고 ‘공감과 교류’는 관객들에게 ‘여유로운 삶과 예술적 향유‘라는 구성개념에 보다 근접한 관련성을 보여주고 있다. 그리고 대학로 소극장 현실적인 열악한 조건의 부정적인 구성개념이 바닥에 짙게 깔려 있었다. 대학로 소극장 구성개념들이 전반적으로 긍정적인 것은 현대 인문학적 공간이론가인 르페브르가 말한 재현공간의 공간적인 실천에서 다른 예술장르와 함께 소극장 연극의 필요성 및 가능성을 다시 확인해주고 있다.This study analyzed the immanent consciousness of theater performers, staffs, and audiences involved in the small theaters of Daehaekro, which is considered to be the center of Korean theater, by employing a new approach while reflecting the humanistic studies of modern theater space. Utilizing a marketing analysis technique known as ZMET, we extracted the Consensus from the small theaters of Daehakro to confirm the cultural meaning of the contemporary small theater space. The results of the analysis reveal that the Consensus of the small theaters of Daehaekro focuses on the core idea of the lively atmosphere of the small theater to prioritize the value of emotion and excitement, thus portraying the value of empathy and communication from the audiences’perspective and“dream and romance”from the workers perspective. The lively atmosphere of the small theater strongly influences the concept of various experiences and vicarious satisfaction for the audience through real performances, and the concept of empathy and communication affects them to move further away from the idea of relaxed life and artistic enjoyment. Furthermore, negative constructs that reveal the harsh reality of the poor conditions found in the small theaters of Daehakro still exist throughout many areas of theater culture. The constructs of Daehaekro theaters can be seen as generally positive in the manner in which the spatial practices of representational space, as mentioned by Lefebvre, confirm the necessity and possibility of small theater performances along with other art genres.