Perhaps the highlight of my Korea trip (and I only say perhaps as I still have one day left) would be the NANTA production which I saw tonight. To be truthful, I entered the small theatre with little expectations, feet aching from a full day of walking, and just about ready to have a nap but boy, was I wrong. The show itself is a bit hard to describe or fit into a specific genre, cooking, action, musical, martial arts, romance, drama, technically speaking all of these labels fit, even throwing in a handful of magic.
Loosely set in a kitchen where four chefs are thrown into turmoil when their ill natured manger orders them to prepare 10 wedding ceremony menus, along with his little nephew, in just an hour.* The performers bring the storyline to life through their hilarious actions and face expressions, as they flip, juggle and chop their way across the stage. Warning though, those in the front rows may get bits of chopped lettuce on them.
Also by no means is this a small Korean production, as it's been running for fifteen years and still counting with 6,150,000 spectators of 19,200 shows in 268 cities, 41 countries.* Don't be frightened too by the language barrier, as not much is spoken but rather portrayed through the body language cause after all a picture is worth a thousand words right?
Now I don't want to ruin the show any further as entering with a empty perspective like I did made it all the more worth it. But I would definitely recommend the show to anyone in the Seoul district to open up a night, spend a worthwhile 50 dollars and watch the 100min show.
For more info: http://visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_2_1.jsp?cid=292931
*quoted from the NANTA pamphlet
