A Musical Play Life of Kim Duk-soo Features on Honorary Professor Kim Duk-soo of the School of Korean Traditional Arts

Celebrating the 63rd anniversary of Honorary Professor at School of Korean Traditional Arts Kim Duk-Soo, the leader of samul-nori, Sejong Center presents a musical play Life of Kim Duk-soo in May. Samul-nori is a traditional Korean percussion performance genre and has been dramatically developed by Hon. Prof. Kim over decades. Prof. Lee Dongyeun (School of Korean Traditional Arts) wrote the play script and professor Park Geunhyung (School of Drama) dramatized and directed stage for this musical play based on one-year of the interview with Prof. Kim Duk-soo.

In the beginning, Life of Kim Duk-soo dates to the time when Kim made his debut as a semi of the Namsadang, a troupe of wandering artists, in 1957. Later, he performed across the country as a member of the Nangrang band, and in February of 1978, he presented the very first samul-nori performance at Gonggansarang. The play focuses on how Kim has led the heyday of the genre as he traveled around the world as a samul nori performer for the past 63 years.

Although the play is in monologue format, it does not only tell the lifetime story of Prof. Kim Duk-soo but portrays the times in the modern and contemporary Korean history and expands to concerns about the future of Korean traditional arts. Also, in this play, dancer Jung Young-doo, traditional music group Ensemble Sinawi, and Samul-nori Bon will make an appearance. The play is highly anticipated to show music master Prof. Kim Duk-soo’s prominent artistic skills in harmony with a synthesis of different genres of the Korean traditional arts.