Chapter 12 - Reckoning with Historical Conflicts in East Asian Theatre Festivals

Summary

This chapter examines two inter-Asian festivals that reckon with difficult histories in East Asia: the BeSeTo Theatre Festival and the Gwangju Media Arts Festival. What makes these festivals significant is that they give artists indigenous to the host countries pride of place. Although there are many theatre festivals in East Asia, many bring works from Western auteur directors, drawing audiences largely from elsewhere. These festivals are distinct in promoting exchanges among Asian artists, practicing the dauntingly vast concept that is (inter-)Asian theatre from locally informed and historically specific perspectives. Production examples such as Han Tae-sook’s Princess Dukhye (1995) and Issac Chong Wai’s One Sound of the Futures (2016) demonstrate the potency of festivals in engaging with vexed histories of state violence, Japanese imperialism, and British colonialism that constitute the contemporary relations of China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea. They render the festivals politically effective platforms where difficult historical memories are addressed and local residents made co-creators. They nurture rather than restrict the social and cultural work that festivals perform.