리어왕의 질문 “나는 누구인가?”에 대한 아시아인의 응답: 한국과 싱가포르의 다시공연하기 사례를 중심으로

Abstract

King Lear’s uncertainty about his own identity unleashes a question that potentially echoes in the present day in view of parents’ treatment of their children and vice versa. This paper intends to give an account of how relevant King Lear’s question “Who am I?” is to its appeal in Asian cultures. Illustrative cases for the discussion are the Korean production of Shakespeare in Gwangju adapted and directed by Kim Jihun for the City Theatre Company of Gwangju in 2012, and the Singaporean production of Lear Dreaming conceived and directed by Ong Keng Sen for his company TheatreWorks in 2012. These two productions bear on the form of restaging: Kim readapts Michoo Theatre Company’s 2009 staging of Shakespeare in the Year King Cheoljong 13, and Ong does his own 1997 staging of Lear: An Intercultural Theater Collaboration of Six Asian Countries. The two restagings have a demonstration of how to respond to King Lear’s question. Shakespeare in Gwangju is concerned with what becomes of the world after his death: the world is overloaded with the legacy of violence and oppression that his wrongdoing left behind. It has the effect of evoking a history of people revolting against tyranny that Gwangju has, thereby presenting a public outcry as an answer to his question. Lear Dreaming is focused on what becomes of King Lear after he was overthrown by his daughter: he falls into silence and dreams of life and death. He is depicted as an individual whose dream conveys the sense of vulnerability, thereby taking his own life as an answer to his own question. Thus the former has more to do with the community’s political life, whereas the latter with the protagonist’s inner life.