The 2020 Yeowoorak Festival, a gugak-themed festival organized by the National Theater of Korea, will kick off online a day later than its original schedule.

As the government suspended operation of state-run museums and theaters in the Seoul metropolitan area on June 12 until further notice, the National Theater of Korea must remain closed.

Although it is shut down, the theater will continue with its annual festival, streaming two of the shows online via its channels on Naver TV and YouTube without an actual audience.

The opening show, “Sam-hap: The Conjunction,” originally scheduled to run on Friday and Saturday, will be live streamed on Saturday.

Daegeum (bamboo flute) player Lee A-ram, the music director of the festival, will perform with music artist Jung Jae-il, who directed the music for the film “Parasite,” and well-known pansori artist Kim Jun-su.

“Gut Stage,” a performance inspired by a ritual dance practiced in areas on the east coast of Korea, will be live streamed on Sunday.

The theater will announce whether the rest of the shows will be performed with audiences or not on Monday and July 13. All of the shows will be streamed online.

The festival, slated to run until July 25, features a total of 12 performances with its focus on the expansion of gugak.

For more information, call the National Theater of Korea at (02) 2280-4114 or visit www.ntok.go.kr.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)