WOMAD

Wang Ki Seok

From Korea (Republic of)

Sweet Seoul musicAlthough it doesn’t have a direct equivalent in the West, the art form known as pansori has often been described as ‘Korean opera’. But, while it shares opera’s purpose of dramatically telling a narrative through song, a pansori performance requires just one singer who undertakes each and every role – regardless of gender – and is accompanied not by a full orchestra but by just a single drummer. Wang Ki Seok is one of Korea’s foremost proponents of the art form. As Professor of Pansori at Seoul’s National Theatre Arts School and a leading member of the National Changgeuk Troupe (changgeuk being a descendent of pansori that does assign a singer for each role), he’s ideally suited. Not only is the prospect of a pansori performance an intriguing one, vocally Wang Ki Seok warrants further investigation too. To these untrained ears, he sounds not dissimilar to those celebrated throat singers from Tuva – there’s even a trace (surely accidental) of Captain Beefheart too. This is enlivening musical theatre that’s – thankfully – half a world away from Andrew Lloyd Webber.