Orange Polar Bear – a cross-cultural performance piece for teenagers in Seoul and Birmingham
- Submitting institution
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Birmingham City University
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 33Z_OP_I0080
- Type
- I - Performance
- Venue(s)
- National Theater of Korea, Seoul; Birmingham Repertory Theatre
- Open access status
- -
- Month of first performance
- -
- Year of first performance
- 2018
- URL
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https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1058856/1058857
- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
-
-
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- _Orange Polar Bear_ (2014-19) is a Research Catalogue exposition capturing an innovative bilingual theatre project led by Peter Wynne-Willson and created by the National Theatre Company of Korea and Birmingham Repertory Theatre. The exposition presents video of a complete performance supplemented by the script and detail of the research process and dissemination.
The main research aims were to develop a methodology for devising and presenting bilingual work in a way that maintains equality between collaborative partners, and, by focusing on the experience of teenagers in Seoul and Birmingham, to consider what young people can teach adults about bridging cross-cultural and language divisions.
The research resulted in a novel methodology for devising bilingual theatre and a cross-cultural performance for young people in two languages that was presented in the same form in South Korea and the UK. It was the first genuinely bilingual play to have been staged in each venue and is unique among Anglo-Korean collaborations for its focus on the experience of teenagers, and conscious balance of languages, cultures and practices. Additionally, the research demonstrates the value of adopting a child-led approach to creating cross-cultural theatre and has created new insights into long-term approaches to developing fair and equal cross-cultural partnerships.
4,877 people saw _Orange Polar Bear_ performed in either Seoul or Birmingham. Aspects of the research were presented at work in progress events in 2016 as well as at conferences and symposia in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -