한국의 정치연극과 그 변용 - 극단 ‘아리랑’의 초기 민족극 운동을 중심으로

Abstract

his paper aims to identify the meaning of political theater in Korea and recontextualize it in the history of Korean theater by studying the performance activities of the theatre movement in the early stage of the acting group called Arirang. It can also be a history of the theater company, which was established in 1986 and has been performing for about 40 years. The concept of political theater here is the voice to be heard against the political issues and the system at the time. In other words, it is the theater as a political act that expresses the desire to affect current policies through performance. From this perspective, political theater that has emerged in Korean society since modern times can be categorized into the KAPF theater in the 1920s, the Soyin theater movement in the 1920s and 30s, and the ‘People's Theatre Movement’ in the 1980s. This study approaches in a way that the early activities of Arirang, which falls into the category of the ‘people's theatre movement’, are the extension of the lineage of political theater. The early years of the theater company Arirang are limited to the period from its inaugural performance <Arirang> in 1986 to <Scarecrow Dancing on the Belly> in 1995, as this is the period when the company's identity as a political theater company and cultural activists was most evident. In this study, I specifically examined the values that Arirang has pursued through the works <Jum-A Jum-A Kong jum-A> (1990) and <Kyeokjeong Manri> (1991), which were released during this period. To do so, I looked into the literature on Korean theater history, Arirang's textbooks, performance videos, and critical texts, and referred to the researcher's own experience when necessary. The social roles and functions of theater vary depending on the era. In the 1980s and 1990s, political theater in Korean society acted as a medium and a platform for political communication, and these functions have shifted to online community spaces in the 21st century. Undoubtedly, theater throughout history has played a specific role in Korean society and has implications for the future of contemporary Korean theater.