The late national actor Lee Soon-jae, who died in Nov. last year, said this at the 42nd Korea Theater Festival press conference in 2024. AI is spreading across culture and the arts, including film, but the being that stands on stage is ultimately a person.
◇ Poor conditions in theater, Yongin steps up with support
The Korea Theater Festival held in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, at the time was an event to which Lee Soon-jae devoted special affection. Serving as honorary chair, Lee led the event overall and encouraged theater and performing artists. It was the first time in 18 years that the Korea Theater Festival, which changes host cities every year, was held in Gyeonggi since Suwon in 2008.
Behind this year's festival being held in Yongin was a decision by Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il, who is "serious about theater." Lee took on the role of festival chair and supported the preparations throughout.
At the press conference, Lee said, "Since the Korea Theater Festival began in 1983, a cultural renaissance has been achieved through theater," adding, "In Yongin, where the largest semiconductor ecosystem will be built, we will make a 'Yongin Renaissance' bloom, where advanced industries and culture and the arts blend." The Renaissance refers to the era after the Middle Ages in Europe when ancient Greek and Roman culture was rediscovered and technology, scholarship, and the arts flourished.
The reason Lee is pouring effort into theater is tied to the reality facing pure art. He judged that the footing of basic arts such as theater is shrinking as they are considered to have low commercial potential.
As of 2024, there were 2,932 theater productions (a total of 52,929 performances) staged in Korea, with ticket sales of about 73.4 billion won. During the same period, there were 3,006 musicals (40,872 performances), with ticket sales reaching about 465.1 billion won. In simple revenue terms, the gap is more than sixfold.
With this awareness of the problem, Yongin City is holding a university theater festival every year. The aim is to provide a stage for young people who love theater. Eligible applicants are students enrolled in related departments or university students engaged in club activities.
◇ Giving student actors a "stage"… 7-to-1 odds for the university theater festival
Students' thirst for the stage was evident in the number of applications. In 2024, when the first festival was held, 48 teams applied, and last year the number rose to 79. Considering that 12 teams advance to the finals, the competition ratio jumped from 4-to-1 to 7-to-1. A Yongin City official said, "A significant number of students from universities with theater-related departments are applying."
People in the theater community cite its operating model as the key to the Yongin university theater festival's success. Rather than simple ranking contests, it is structured as a residency-style program that values exchanges among students and artistic expansion. Participants stay for a set period to immerse themselves in performances and interact with other teams. Selecting the top three teams without ranking them is another feature.
The Yongin university theater festival is receiving evaluations that it has established itself as the nation's largest university theater celebration. Some also assess that Yongin, long seen as an industrial city, has used it as a springboard to broaden its profile as a city of culture and the arts.
Yongin has drawn attention as a "semiconductor city" home to corporations such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Mayor Lee Sang-il has put forward a city administration vision of a "Yongin Renaissance," where industry and the arts coexist by adding culture and the arts to this.
Yongin City will hold the university theater festival for the third straight year this year. A call for applications for universities will be issued in Mar. The city is also considering expanding the number of finals teams to 12 or more in view of demand.
Mayor Lee Sang-il said, "We will nurture the university and citizens theater festivals so they grow into Yongin's signature celebrations that come to mind just with the words 'youth' and 'theater.'"