This year’s OzAsia Festival in Adelaide from 17 September to 2nd October sees the spotlight placed on talented performers from Korea.  Highlights include the comical, martial arts sensation Jump, Yohangza Theatre Company’s Hamlet and a theatrical performance for young people When His Watch Stopped by Sadari Theatre Company. 

This year’s Korean focus is energetic, fun and physical.  The OzAsia Festival promotes cultural understanding and tolerance through creative collaboration.  Festival organisers collaborated with Korea Arts Management Service as part of its ‘Centre Stage Korea in Australia’ project.

The OzAsia Festival will also feature visual artist Aehee Park and Korean films in Korea on Screen.  Four films will be featured in the Korea on Screen series at the Mercury Cinema.  They are Like a Virgin, Secret Sunshine, Epitaph and Barking Dogs Never Bite.

The festival’s opening this year will be performed by  Lee Hae-Kyung, a Shaman who uses the forms integrated into Yohangza Theatre Company’s Hamlet. This is Hamlet like you have never seen it before with a Korean twist.  The highlight of the festival is expected to be the irresistible martial arts comedy Jump. Performed by a cast of gymnasts, acrobats and Taekwondo masters with spot-on comic timing it’s a laugh out loud show for the whole family. 

A special theatrical performance suitable for young people over ten years of age When His Watch Stopped is inspired by the thoughts and paintings of children touched by war.  This visually powerful production promotes discussion and gently addresses the anxiety, fear and hope of children affected by war. Using masked performance, striking visual art, mime and imagery, When His Watch Stopped tells the emotional tale of a newly married couple who are torn apart by war, and the feelings experienced when a loved one does not return.