Musical Hwarang and the Daehangno neighborhood

 As a K-Performance Supporter for the KTO I was able to attend another wonderful show this past week - the musical "Hwarang". I headed out to the Daehangno area on Seoul Subway Line 4 and exited at Hyehwa Station (Exit 2).  After a short walk, I found the Daehangno Yesulmadang building and headed to the 3rd floor for the show.

The waiting area is a simple hallway decorated with show memorabilia and the day's casting.

The set is very sparse - a painted back wall with five turning doors. The theater itself is small and intimate - the front row is on the same level as the performers (and I was worried about them during the sword fights)! The props used were really only for the fighting scenes.

The plot, from what I could read and understand online: five young men go to Seorabeol, the capital of Silla, to audition to become Hwarang. What are Hwarang, you ask? Well, "Hwa" mean flower and "rang" means young men - so beautiful men? Who, based on the action in the musical, also need to be good at archery, sword fighting, martial arts, poetry, and more.

The five characters are:

Yu-O: song of a Hwarang member who is rebelling against his mother

Ki Pang Rang: a self-centered son of a king who often fights with Yu-O

Moon No: son of a Hwarang that want to clear his father's name and lead the group

Moo Kwan Rang: forced by his father to apply; would rather write poetry; not a skilled fighter

Sa Da Ham: noble family servant's son; feels he must protect Moo Kwan Rang

This show is a full 2-hour musical, sung and performed completely in Korean and in a very K-Pop style, complete with dance numbers. The only translation shown was in Japanese (there are also a few showings when Chinese translations are provided). I was very thankful that I had scoured the internet for a synopsis and character stories - if I had not done so, I would have been completely lost! With my basic knowledge, I was able to understand what was going on, although I would have liked to understand the words to all of the songs (not just the topics).

At one point in the show there was, of course, the audience participation section - the actors each had someone draw on his face with a red lipstick. Since I could not understand the dialogue or significance of that scene, I can only guess that it had something to do with the facial patterns seen later in the show - maybe expressing their inner Hwarang?

Overall, it was a very enjoyable afternoon at the theater. The story flows well, showing their hard work to become Hwarang and their individual trials leading to the finale - will they become better fighters? will they be able to get along and work as a team? will Moo Kwan Rang and Sa Da Ham remain friends, or more?

They were very good singers, actors, and dancers - this musician just wishes 

she had been able to fully understand the lyrics!

The walk to and from the theater was an interesting one, as there were a number of art pieces on display.  I had some extra time before the show, so I got to explore the area a bit.  Coming out of the subway, I immediately found this sculpture:

And stumbled upon a small theater festival.  This area is full of small theaters and the walls of the subway were lined with posters.

If you happen to visit here, stop in at the Ticket Information Center just outside Hyewha Station.

There was a rather large art piece that declared "Life is Art, Art is Fun!"

And then I followed a nearby stream bed towards the theater:

And found these...no, they are not giant seashells...they are rainbow colored piles of poo!

Many people stopped to take photos with them...I did not.

One street over from the stream, on the way back from the theater, I went in search of the murals I had read about online.  There were some smaller ones on area restaurants:

And at the crossroads sign on Dongsung 1-gil, I found the popular large one:

A map mural of the area:

And my favorite: