NangChang NangChang

Synopsis

An eighteen-year-old girl lives with her widowed mother, her brother, and his pregnant wife near the Taehwagang River. In this close-knit family, siblings share a bond essential to emotional survival.

One day, while accompanying her sister-in-law to the river to do laundry, a sudden downpour causes the river to flood and engulf the village. In the chaos, her brother instinctively reaches for his wife first. Though natural by modern standards, this moment strikes the girl as a profound betrayal, shattering her belief in their unbreakable family unity.

Carried away by the flood, she releases her sorrow and unspoken longing in a final song beneath the water—a lament for love, loss, and the collapse of familial trust.

After the flood, a young man finds her body along the riverbank and forms a quiet spiritual bond with her, as if joined in marriage beyond death. From then on, fortune follows him, and the girl’s lingering resentment finally dissolves, living on as the local folk legend known as the Beri-kkeut story.

Directorial & Artistic Intent

This performance adopts a multidisciplinary approach that integrates live instrumental music with the visualization of sound through movement. Musicians are positioned at the center of the stage, encircled by an elevated platform that ensures both musical performance and choreography remain clearly visible. The platform symbolizes the rock where the protagonist once stood and serves as a theatrical device to depict the moment she falls into the river.

Rather than using physical props, elements such as water, fabric, and line are expressed through lighting, sound, and movement. These symbolic elements represent the river as the setting, the moment of death and separation, and the invisible boundary between life and the afterlife. Together, they enhance the visual and narrative coherence of the performance.

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Host or Publisher Yunkyung Hong