The old Seoul Station building will turn into a giant stage for a performance that has never been seen before. Tristan Sharps, artistic director of Dream Think Speak, will use rooms, corridors and every corner of the 89-year-old building to put on a site-specific performance.

Sharps has been staging shows outside theaters since 1999. His performances interact with architectural monuments such as department stores, historic buildings and large warehouses. In 2013, he directed a joint performance with Korea, Japan and England on the premises of the former Gwangju Girls’ High School in Korea.

Sharps and 30 Korean dancers, performers and artists will hold workshops every day this week for a performance at the station, dubbed Seoul 284, Saturday.

“The plaza outside the station is a place of public speech as the public comes and holds demonstrations. It’s also quite a political area with heavy police presence. They deal with protesters with surveillance, the main weapon that many protesters are uncomfortable with,” Sharps said at a press conference at the old Seoul Station building Monday.

He was intrigued by the many windows of Seoul 284.

“Windows are not just for looking outside. There are also interior windows. In the corridor, there are also windows that lead to another corridor. You are never in close space. You are constantly viewed at every angle,” he said.

He wants to have a small audience of about 40 spectators for the performance, so that they can immerse themselves in the show.

“We allow the audience to walk around the area. Because they are not used to this kind of performance, they sometimes get more vocal during the performance, making comments, or remain completely silent for a long part of it,” said Sharps, noting that audience members are more engaged when they’re standing than when they are seated.

The performance is fully booked for now, but reservations can be made for canceled spots on Thursday at seoul284.org.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)