Pansori singer Lee Jaram will perform her original work Snow, Snow, Snow at the Gyeonggi Arts Center in Suwon on Dec. 12 and 13.
The production will be staged at 4 p.m. on both days in the centre’s Grand Theatre. It was included in the official programme of the 80th Festival d’Avignon in France earlier this year, where it was performed four times at the Opéra Grand Avignon.
Snow, Snow, Snow is Lee’s pansori adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s short story Master and Man. Set during a severe Russian winter in the 19th century, the story follows merchant Vasili and his worker Nikita as they travel through a snowstorm.
Vasili sets out to purchase a forest and secure a profit but loses his way in the worsening weather. As the two men spend the night wandering through the snow, he is forced to confront the life he has pursued and the values that have guided him. The work uses their journey to consider human desire, survival and the meaning assigned to a life.
Lee wrote the text and composed the vocal passages herself. She performs multiple characters through changes in voice, expression and physical movement, combining the musical structure of pansori with theatrical storytelling.
The production follows the batangsori format, in which a singer carries a complete narrative from beginning to end. Lee appears with a fan, while drummer Lee Jun-hyung accompanies her on the soribuk. His rhythmic patterns shape the pace and tension of the story.
Park Ji-hye of the theatre collective Yangson Project directs the production. She previously collaborated with Lee on The Stranger’s Song and The Old Man and the Sea. Yeo Shin-dong designed the stage and lighting, retaining the largely open space associated with traditional pansori while using visual changes to distinguish scenes and emotional shifts.
Lee has continued to reinterpret world literature through contemporary pansori in works including Sacheon-ga (2007), Ukchuk-ga (2011) and The Old Man and the Sea (2019).
Snow, Snow, Snow premiered at LG Arts Center Seoul in April 2025. Co-produced by LG Arts Center and Wanjung Playground, it subsequently toured in Korea and overseas.
The production received the top award in the traditional arts category at the 2026 Seoul Arts Awards.
The performances will run for 125 minutes, including a 15-minute interval. Snow, Snow, Snow will be staged at the Gyeonggi Arts Center Grand Theatre on Dec. 12 and 13.
SayArt.net
Sharon Jung guhuijeong784@gmail.com
Festival d’Avignon selection adapts Tolstoy’s ‘Master and Man’ as a full-length contemporary pansori performance
Pansori singer Lee Jaram will perform her original work Snow, Snow, Snow at the Gyeonggi Arts Center in Suwon on Dec. 12 and 13.
The production will be staged at 4 p.m. on both days in the centre’s Grand Theatre. It was included in the official programme of the 80th Festival d’Avignon in France earlier this year, where it was performed four times at the Opéra Grand Avignon.
Snow, Snow, Snow is Lee’s pansori adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s short story Master and Man. Set during a severe Russian winter in the 19th century, the story follows merchant Vasili and his worker Nikita as they travel through a snowstorm.
Vasili sets out to purchase a forest and secure a profit but loses his way in the worsening weather. As the two men spend the night wandering through the snow, he is forced to confront the life he has pursued and the values that have guided him. The work uses their journey to consider human desire, survival and the meaning assigned to a life.
Lee wrote the text and composed the vocal passages herself. She performs multiple characters through changes in voice, expression and physical movement, combining the musical structure of pansori with theatrical storytelling.
The production follows the batangsori format, in which a singer carries a complete narrative from beginning to end. Lee appears with a fan, while drummer Lee Jun-hyung accompanies her on the soribuk. His rhythmic patterns shape the pace and tension of the story.
Park Ji-hye of the theatre collective Yangson Project directs the production. She previously collaborated with Lee on The Stranger’s Song and The Old Man and the Sea. Yeo Shin-dong designed the stage and lighting, retaining the largely open space associated with traditional pansori while using visual changes to distinguish scenes and emotional shifts.
Lee has continued to reinterpret world literature through contemporary pansori in works including Sacheon-ga (2007), Ukchuk-ga (2011) and The Old Man and the Sea (2019).
Snow, Snow, Snow premiered at LG Arts Center Seoul in April 2025. Co-produced by LG Arts Center and Wanjung Playground, it subsequently toured in Korea and overseas.
The production received the top award in the traditional arts category at the 2026 Seoul Arts Awards.
The performances will run for 125 minutes, including a 15-minute interval. Snow, Snow, Snow will be staged at the Gyeonggi Arts Center Grand Theatre on Dec. 12 and 13.
SayArt.net
Sharon Jung guhuijeong784@gmail.com
