After boring you with information about the Hahoe Pyolshin-gut T’al-Nori ot Hahoe maskdance drama it is time to get back to real life and our experiences of watching it and possibly one of the most embarrassing moments of my life!!!

Because we had watched Malaysia we had managed to get some good seats for what turned out to be an incredibly popular performance. Slowly the arena began to fill up, even the steps to get back to the top of the theatre were packed with Koreans eagerly awaiting the performance. This made my all-to-regular trips to the toilet something of an adventure. The Koreans stare enough anyway, you can’t help wondering what they are thinking as you clumsily pick you way up the steps trying not to stand on anyone!

We had heard so much about Hahoe maskdance drama we already had a good idea about the gist of the story. Once again this was a good thing as we couldn’t understand any of the dialogue!

Basically a butcher cuts of a bulls testicle and tries to sell it to an aristocrat and a scholar. Then the aristocrat and the scholar fight over it, before an old woman ridicules them for fighting and then …. the play ends!!

In the first act a man appeared with a woman on his shoulders. According to the Click Asia website this act is more or a sacrificial service than a play. The website said:

In this act, a young lady (or bride depending on which website you look at!) (Kakshi) appears, dancing on the shoulders of another performer and asks people to make offerings for their blessing and wealth.

Kakshi is believed to be the personified local goddess, so she must not tread on the ground, but must always stay on the shoulders of a man.

By welcoming Kakshi, the villagers please the goddess and pray for peace and an abundant harvest.

Them came Act two where two Lions (or totem beasts) fought with one claiming victory. According to the Click Asia website:

A male and female Chuji (lion or toem beat) appear, dancing and playfully fighting. The female lion wins, promising the village high productivity and an abundant harvest for the year.

Then Ch’oraengi (the meddler) enters, chases the Chujis away, and dances alone. This act sanctifies the place where the play is to be performed by driving away demons and evil spirits.

After these two slightly random acts the performance kicked off. As we settled down, as best we could on concrete, to watch a traditional Korean play but to mine and Emily’s shock, after all the place was packed with kids, act three began with a bull walking onto the stage shooting water (supposed to represent pee) from what could be clearly identified as his ….. errhumm …. you know what! In my state of shock I unashamedly spent ages trying to line up the photo below to show ‘it’ in its full glory – if you know what I mean?!

It wasn’t long before the bull had peed on everyone in the front of the audience and he was due to meet his demise at the hands of Paekchong the butcher.

The Click Asia website says of this act:

A butcher (Paekchong) enters with a straw bag containing an axe and a knife. He dances with the bull, then kills it with his axe and cuts out its heart and testicles. He asks the spectators to buy them. When it thunders, he gets frightened and exits. The act satirises the authoritative attitudes of the ruling class toward sexual life, removing the sexual taboo.

This causes the spectators to laugh, and the butcher wins their sympathy.

It certainly had us giggling but more from shock at the blatant nature and use of the bull’s private parts, then the violent and barbaric way the bull was killed!!! I can’t help but compare things like this to what you’d get away with in the UK, I’m pretty sure with kids in the auditorium neither would have been allowed!

Next Halmi (the old widow) appeared on stage with a hand loom. (act four)

After speaking and weaving for a while she got out a pot and asked a man in the audience for some money, he declined but she stood in front of him patiently waiting until someone else put some money in her pot forcing him to put his hand in his pocket.

Soon loads of people in the audience were offering money, but I don’t think the performers were prepared for what followed! A barrage of children, who wanted their five minutes of glory, putting 1,000 won (about 0.60GBP) in the pot, came running onto stage. After a few minutes the kids were still coming and the audience and the band erupted into laughter. Halmi, in jest, sat on the floor and let it continue for a few minutes. Then as she tried to resume her dancing and script yet more eager children legged it on to the stage prompting the band to start playing and the act (at least appear) to be cut short!!!

The hilarity caused by the children put a light spin on what is supposed to be a fairly serious act about the conflicts between social classes. Click Asia says:

An old widow (Halmi) appears with a white scarf around her head and carrying a hand loom. The granny became widowed only three days after her wedding at the age of fourteen.

She weaves for a little while, then gets up and dances alone, bewailing her ill-fortune and begging the spectators for donations.

The mask of Halmi reveals the poverty and visage of a woman of the world.

The act symbolizes the conflicts between social classes and the pain of life for the common people.

The next act (act five) seemed innocent whilst watching and not having a clue what was going on, but reading up on it now I realise it was actually well…. a bit wrong!!! I am having problems getting over the fact that there were sooo many children watching this play who, unlike us, were able to understand exactly what was going on!

I found a website with detailed information about the play. It can be found here. According to this website:

Pune (the flirtatious woman) appears performing a dance, looks around making sure that nobody is nearby, squats down and then relieves herself. At that moment a wandering monk (Chung) watches her urinate, and is aroused by the sight. He dances with her then runs away with her on his back and is seen by Ch’oraengi.

This act criticizes religious corruption of the day.

After being blissfully unaware of what was actually happening in the last act, Pune and her antics left the stage and Imae the fool came on stage and danced for a bit, looking joyful and drunk.

Following Imae’s dance there was a bit of a break in proceedings as he appeared to be asking for someone to come up on stage. Not having a clue what was being said Emily and I took this opportunity to look around the theatre and realised it had filled up even more during the performance. Spotting two other westerners in the front row and realising the four of us we were probably the only westerners in the place I took some pictures to document just how surrounded by Koreans we were.

We returned our attention to the play and realised after much persuasion Imae had got a Korean woman up on the stage. Remembering our experience earlier in the day of being projected onto the big screen and all the Koreans turning to stare Emily and I both commented on how incredibly awful it would be to be in that poor woman’s position right now: “But at least she was Korean.” As soon as the words left our lips the spotlight was suddenly shining in our faces. The Korean woman who had been coxed onto the stage explained that Imae wanted us to join them. The terrifying realisation dawned that he had asked for a Korean who spoke English and one of us was going to have to subject ourselves to the braying crowd. I sat with that spotlight in may face for far too long refusing to move but there was no way they going to give up and leave us in peace. Emily snatched the camera: “You go,” she said, “I’ll take pictures.” What choice did I have, shaking with embarrassment I began to pick my way through the mass of Koreans and onto the stage.

As I reached the bottom it became clear that Emily wasn’t about to get off that lightly, I was told: “Your friend too!” I turned, facing into the crowd and the hundreds of cameras taking my picture, and waved Emily into the stage. Determined not to subject herself to the same ordeal she resisted claiming she needed to take pictures. Luckily for me a Korean man stepped into the photographer role giving Emily no choice but begin the long and intimidating walk towards the stage where there was no escape from the constant flashing of Korean cameras. I guess the flashing of the cameras must be something like walking up the red carpet on Oscars night, but without the adoration of the fans, just hundreds Koreans who seem to have never seen a white person before!

We safely made it to the stage turned our back to the crowd and waited for the ordeal to end. Imae and his English speaking Korean assistant got an Australian girl (one of the other westerners in the audience) out of the crowd to join us and his line up was complete. After asking for names and where we were from he turned to me looking at my lip ring and asked (in Korean): “Does that thing in your lip hurt?” At which point it was time to crawl under the stage and wait for everyone to go home – Koreans don’t do piercings!

Then as if we hadn’t been humiliated enough already it was time for the final assault. We had to dance with him!!! Not being one for dancing at the best of times, feeling red-raced with embarrassment and shaking with fear was not going to be the best time to show-off my skills. But what choice did I have, the assembled crowd of hundreds was already roaring with laughter and clicking away on their cameras it couldn’t really get any worse!

When the dancing was over we were rewarded for our efforts, each being given a mask necklace. (Emily and I had been eyeing them up two nights before when they were being given to Koreans as competition prizes. At the time we thought out inability to speak the language we ruin our chances of getting on, as it happened it was out foreignness that earned us one!)

The whole experience suddenly seemed much less scary and much more worth while as we left the stage knowing it was over! We had our mementos and a story that would entertain a few people, along with the memory of the time we had to dance in front of hundreds of Koreans roaring with laughter, that would undoubtedly stay with us forever!!!!

Slowly recovering our composure, we sat back in our seats and enjoyed the rest of the performance.

Act six was the final act of the play and where all the action seemed to happen, the website I linked to earlier explains it as:

An aristocrat (Yangban) and a scholar (Sonbi) appear and each takes pride in his knowledge and status.

Paekchong approaches the pair, asking them to buy the testicles of the bull. At first they think it would be indecent, but they then quarrel with each other about buying them when the butcher says the testicles strengthen their sexual energies.

The granny (Halmi) enters again and criticiss their behavior with humor and satire, and then helps reconcile their differences. Ch’oraengi joins them, and all of them dance joyfully. When they are told that a tax collector is coming, they all scatter around and exit in a panic.

This act allows the ruling classes to reconsider their real place in society while the lower classes let off a little steam. The act is intended to alleviate conflicts between classes.

After watching the play everyone was invited down onto the stage to meet the performers and have a dance. The Koreans flocked to the stage in their droves. Obviously dancing with them is quite an honor – I wish it had felt like that at the time! As the man who took our photos made his way to the stage he tried to persuade us to join him, but having had quite enough embarrassment and being stared at for one day and nursing a banging headache we decided it was time to head home.

* Posted by j150vsc on 09/11/2006.