Three expat theater groups are staging Valentine’s Day shows to offer something besides the usual dinner dates.

Daegu Theatre Troupe kicks off Valentine’s Day weekend with “The Love Collective” on Feb. 11. Created specially for this Valentine’s Day, the show is comprised of mostly original scenes and monologues written by troupe members celebrating the funny, the strange, the romantic and the unusual sides of love.

Performed by the cast of Daegu Theatre’s 2011 productions, including Lorna Anne Camacho Souchet, Alex Hernandez and Ed Minges, “The Love Collective” provides an “opportunity to look at love from a male perspective as well as a female perspective,” according to Stevie Baker, the troupe’s artistic director.

“It’s not always easy to find pieces that have a balance between the sexes and that is something very important,” she added.

Baker, who bids farewell to Daegu in March as she heads back to her native Canada, is excited about working with the core members of the Troupe for her last production, and about the venue.

“Perhaps the most exciting thing about this show for Troupe members is that this is our first show in a real theater in Daegu,” said Baker. “So this is a very special production for us and hopefully the beginning of a new era of tech for Daegu Theatre Troupe.”

On Valentine’s Day, Probationary Theatre Company in Seoul is to show “Romance” by Neil LaBute. But the show will not be as romantic as the name suggests. Instead, it is an exploration of stereotypes and gender roles.

Directed by Molly Rice, “Romance” will be performed by Tara Hermann, Desiree Munro, Quinn Olbrich and Edward Wright. The short play will be performed four times each with a different combination of male and female actors in each role.

“LaBute wrote ‘Romance’ as part of a workshop that explores on how gender automatically affects the way we look at the roles,” said Desiree Munro.

“The play is an exploration of gender stereotypes in a lot of ways,” she added. “One of the characters is really needy and clingy, and the other character’s very promiscuous. And we usually associate needy clinginess with a female role. When the female is playing that role, it’s quite serious and sad. However, when male is playing that role, it becomes much more of a comedy.”

Munro stresses that the show is not a couples’ night and strongly recommends that singles come to watch it too. She says this “anti-romance” play may even be better for singles.

“It’s not a sort of piece you’ll watch and feel sad that you don’t have a loved one in your life. On the contrary, you might be quite happy and rejoicing that you’re single after watching it,” she said.

On Feb. 18, the Seoul Shakespeare Company will present a musical evening, “Love Bitten.” The performance is a collection of soulful Shakespeare sonnets sung and set to original live music for a modern audience. The evening aims to provide a party atmosphere to wine, dine and socialize by candlelight.

The band consists of Jessica Adel, Lauren Ash-Morgan, Carys “Matic” Jones, Zee “Lioness” Kang, Jessica Rau and Grace Szarko, all of whom collaborated in composing the music.

“Our rehearsals have consisted of myself bringing melodies, riff, ideas ― just little musical embryos really ― to the group, and then everyone jumping in with their own harmonies and rhythms. The process has been hugely collaborative,” said Jessica Adel, the show’s lead composer and the creative director. “It’s amazing how musical the rhythms of the texts really are.”

The evening will present Shakespeare’s works in a modern way that will appeal to Shakespeare lovers and first-timers.

“It can connect to people who enjoy music as well as Shakespeare in a modern sense because we usually don’t modernize Shakespeare as much as this is going to be. So we are trying to appeal to more modern audiences who not only like Shakespeare but would like to experience Shakespeare for the first time in a more accessible way,” said Lindsey Higgins, organizer of “Love Bitten.”

“The Love Collective” starts at 9 p.m. on Feb. 11 at Cheoyong Theatre near Myeongdeok Station in Daegu. Tickets are 10,000 won and available through www.daegutheatre.com.

“Romance” starts 7:30 p.m., followed by Act Two at 8:15 p.m., Act Three at 9 p.m. and Act Four at 9:45 p.m. on Feb. 14. No advance booking is needed and tickets can be purchased at the door of White Box Theatre near Hyochang Park Station in Seoul for 15,000 won.

“Love Bitten” is at 8 p.m. on Feb. 18 at Camarata Music Studio near Noksapyeong Station in Seoul. Suggested donation for entry is 10,000 won.

By John Lee(jlee17@alumni.nd.edu)