France is the focus of this year’s Korea International Summer Festival from July 20-31 and, as its organizer, the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (ASSITEJ), is marking the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“France played a leading role in founding the ASSITEJ world headquarters and takes initiatives in developing performing arts for children and young people,” said spokeswoman Lim Ju-hee.

The festival caters to children and youth and its theme this year is “Turn fear into courage!” There will be performances related to the emotions and psychological struggles that children often experience. Techniques such as dance, movement and comic expression will also be used.

“The performances strive to empathize with young people who go through a lot of confusion and fear as part of growing up,” Lim said.

“Children are encouraged to overcome inner fear and take courage to confront society,” Lim said.

One of the groups that will be performing is French group Compagnie Arcosm which will perform “Bounce!” a live music and dance performance that views failure positively.

Another performance is “Moooooooooonstres” which revolves around children who are afraid of monsters under their beds. 

“It raises questions about the origin of fear by describing a main character who struggles with ridiculous monsters and throws them out in an entertaining way,” Lim said.

There will also be “Who Are You?” an interactive performance which encourages audience participation and begins by asking children to reflect on themselves.

Groups at the festival will also use puppets to interact with the audience.

French theater troupes will perform at the festival along with 15 other performances for children and youth from 10 countries including Germany, Japan and Singapore.

The Korea International Summer Festival takes place from July 20 to July 31 in theaters around Seoul.

ASSITEJ was established in 1965 to enrich the lives of children and youth through the arts by bringing together individuals, professional theaters and theater organizations.

ASSITEJ Korea also organizes an annual symposium, theatre workshops for youths and children’s theater tours. It publishes the annual journal Education and Theatre.

By Tang Li

Intern reporter

(tangli@heraldcorp.com)