The mask play Twelfth Night, based on William Shakespeare and showing a chaotic party of love, meets audiences at Jiguin Art Hall in Daehangno through Oct. 5 (Sun).
"Twelfth Night" is one of Shakespeare's five major comedies and a representative romantic comedy. It remains beloved today as a happy story in which the tangled knots of love are all resolved. Twelfth Night refers to Jan. 6, the day 12 days after Christmas. It is the last day of the Christmas festival celebrating the birth of Jesus, and in Europe there was a tradition of holding various festivities from Christmas until the night of Jan. 6. The play Twelfth Night also appears to have been performed during this festival.
The protagonists of "Twelfth Night" are the twin siblings, older brother Sebastian and younger sister Viola. They are separated from each other by a storm while sailing. Viola decides to disguise herself as a man named Cesario and become a servant of Duke Orsino until she can reunite with her brother. Sebastian searches for his missing sister Viola.
Meanwhile, Duke Orsino is in love with a beautiful young woman named Olivia. But Olivia is cold toward Orsino and all the men who like her. One day, Cesario, the woman disguised as a man, goes to Olivia's house to deliver a letter from Duke Orsino. Olivia falls in love with that Cesario, and an unpredictable love story unfolds.
The creative collective Geogigamyeon has reinvented Twelfth Night as a mask play. All the characters perform wearing half masks appropriate to their roles. The movements and expressive style of actors who cover half their faces with masks offer audiences a different experience and will further highlight the play's distinctive comic elements. It also deals with love, the most primal human emotion that resonates with people of all ages, so anyone can enjoy the performance.
The mask play Twelfth Night was recognized again for its artistic merit when it won the grand prize, best director and best actor awards at the 35th Geochang International Theater Festival in 2025. The creative collective Geogigamyeon, led by Chung-Ang University Professor Baek Nam-young, has performed various mask plays in addition to Twelfth Night. Their works, including Bahnhof, an official selection of the 2010 Seoul Theater Olympics; the mask theater staple Sora Star Story; and the nonverbal mask performance The Messenger, have received praise both domestically and abroad.
Twelfth Night runs at Jiguin Art Hall in Daehangno through the 5th (Sun). Weekday performances are at 7:30 p.m., and holiday and weekend performances are at 3 p.m.<
[Photo] Creative collective Geogigamyeon
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