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Klaxon
Korean Showcase 2022
5 -12 August: 2pm & 4pm
by Gareth K Vile
An outdoor performance about discarded people and objects, Klaxon is a solo performance from an elderly puppet approaching the end of her life. Alone and forgotten, she tries to find a way to become useful once more. She pulls a mask from a trash can, wears the mask backwards, and plays with a baby doll as though remembering a child from her past. But she tries to interact, the forgotten things she pulls from a rubbsih bin that can’t make the child respond, and her efforts explode in a shower of glitter. As she departs, she sees with end-of-life clarity, and the rubbish around her ascends with her.
Since 1997, 'Gum-sul' has been conducting various experimental works using dolls and objects. It has steadily continued with small-scaled works and pure creations of less than two people. Gum-sul produces adult genre works to expand the age group of puppet theatre. The group continues to bridge genres, all the while promoting puppetry as a skill rather than a prop.
Directed by Kim Shin Ki
Devised and performed by Song Eunkyoung
Concept by Lee Eun Kyung
What inspired you to take the puppet into an outdoor environment?
We always perform in a new place. There are concerns about new movements, new events, and emotions that fit there. It's hard and difficult, but very interesting.
Does Klaxon sit within any particular heritage of puppetry?
There is a subtle but clear difference between "Puppet's movement on the stage of the puppet show" and "Puppet's replacement of the actor's acting."
First of all, the performer must be an "actor", and the actor must be a "puppeteer" who separates the puppet that represents him from him to realise his performance. Also, it has to be a creator and an artist in order to face a new inspiration in a new place.
What inspired the creation of the old lady puppet?
The puppet is a fantasy. All human beings and matters are destroyed, worn out, abandoned, and forgotten. Because it's true, it's like a dream that I don't want to dream. The puppet represents it, and the appearance of the old woman is a horn that rings on us. I wanted to tell the truth that I didn't want to think about.
Does the performance have any particular narrative, and how far is it defined by the response of the audience?
A poor old woman suffering from dementia is a person who makes a living by collecting and selling discarded items. Things that are worthless and thrown away are just like her, and she's like them. Audiences often don’t recognise an actor for a while. It's always interesting to see the reaction of being surprised after recognising the actor.
And what kind of response do you get from audiences?
I feel that the audience's immersion and concentration are great every time. It's not easy to experience in the noisy outdoors. All that power of concentration is overwhelming when there is only an old woman there, and when she feels the heavy solemnity as she sees off all her last moments.
