Shakespeare in Korean style works…The National Theater Company's theatrical globalization begins in earnest → All tickets for the Beijing performance are sold out

Nov 06, 2025

National Theater Company '12'Beijing performance. Photo = National Theater Company

The National Theater Company (Director and Artistic Director Park Chung-hee) met with a Chinese audience again with our play for the first time in nine years. The National Theater Company's play "Twenty" (original by William Shakespeare, adapted and directed by Lim Do-wan) opened at the Beijing Intermediate Theater from the 24th to the 25th of last month. All two performances were sold out during the two days and were watched by 774 Chinese audiences.

'Twenty' was invited as the closing film of the Beijing International Youth Theater Festival in 2025. The Beijing International Youth Theater Festival, which began in 2008, is a historic performing arts festival that has been held to supply creative power to the Asian theater industry and introduce world-class outstanding theater works. Until last year, 430 works by 225 local Chinese directors were on stage at the Beijing International Youth Theater Festival, and 129 foreign works from 21 countries around the world shared artistic inspiration across genres and borders. This year's festival, which marks its 18th anniversary, was held in Beijing, China, with six countries, including Korea, Norway, Germany, Russia, Italy and Poland, and 12 Chinese domestic and six foreign works were performed.

Chinese audience filming the Beijing stage curtain call of the National Theater Company "Twenty" Photograph = National Theater Company

Co-produced by the National Theater Company and the Daejeon Arts Center and premiered last year, 'Twenty-Yi' is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's classic play of the same name by director Lim Do-wan. In fact, 'Twenty' organized the framework of the work with overseas expansion in mind from the production stage. It is one of Shakespeare's top five comedies, and the background of the original was moved to Nongmeori in the Joseon Dynasty. It is a performance that stands out with beautiful movements and exciting pansori and rap mixing applied to Korean dance such as Bongsan Mask Dance. In addition to choreography and music, Shakespeare's prestigious writings, which are spat out in Korea's Paldo dialect, generously add Korean traditional aesthetics to the stage and costumes, are the unmissable highlight of '12'. The modern sense called 'hip' was added to the parts that could feel foreign while giving the Western classical art a sense of the East, filling the gap between generation and culture. The choice based on Shakespeare's play, which is loved by mankind around the world, is also a strategic choice for overseas expansion.

The National Theater Company once again confirmed the possibility of globalization of Korean theater in China, which has stepped back to 'Twenty' after nine years since performing 'Cho'Goa, the Seed of Vengeance' at the Beijing National Theater in 2016.

The Chinese performance 'Twenty' was also able to confirm the enthusiasm of the audience. The performance, which sold out two performances in two days, was crowded with people trying to take commemorative photos at the photo wall even before the performance began. The audience filled the theater quickly read the subtitles in Chinese and reacted without missing the flow of the play and the actor's emotional line. For audiences who need to understand the meaning of the dialogue and the narrative of the play with simultaneous subtitles, they intentionally added emoticons or gave variations to the font size according to the dramatic flow. In some scenes, the audience sometimes burst into laughter even before the subtitles came out. Laughter and applause continued for 125 minutes of running time.

Chinese audience waiting for admission to the Beijing performance by the National Theater Company "Twenty20."Photo by the National Theater Company

Director Lim Do-wan said "It was impressive to see the audience concentrating on the performance in a free atmosphere. The laughter code between Korea and China fits well, so it's a shame to perform only two times and then go back to Korea."

Ren Yuan, secretary of the Beijing Youth Theater Workers' Association, which organizes the Beijing International Youth Theater Festival, invited Korean plays again with 'Twenty-Yi' after 13 years since the theater company of Jukjuk in 2010 and the 'Dog is a beast' of both hands project in 2012. 'Twenty' is a play with the actor's body movements and a thick addition of oriental elements, and it is expected that it will be possible to gain sufficient sympathy and understanding from Chinese audiences in the same Asian culture. The fact that it is a performance that has already been very successful in Korea and has been well received for its high degree of completion has also been an important reason for the selection of 'Twenty-Ya' as an invited work.

Park Chung-hee, artistic director of the National Theater Company, said "I don't think language is a problem if theater goes beyond a specific country and culture and tells the natural story of mankind and the times in which humanity lived together. Korean theater and creators already have outstanding artistic qualities and excellent skills. The progressive attitude to achieve rapid adaptability to change and artistic growth is also an advantage of Korean theater production. With all these capabilities necessary to lay a bridgehead for overseas expansion already in place, the National Theater Company plans to do its best to imprint Korean theater on the world."

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.