Musical showcasing divine love between Indian Princess and Korean King to be ready by September, Contract awarded

KCCI has awarded the contract for creating a 2-hour long musical around the story of the Princess Suriratna of Ayodhya to a New Delhi-based theatre group Theatre I-Entertainment.

Sanjeev K Ahuja On Jan 1, 2021

ACN EXCLUSIVE:

NEW DELHI: India’s first theatrical musical show that would portray the 2000-year old love story of an Indian Princess and South Korean King is likely to be rolled out for the audience by September this year.

The Korean Cultural Centre in India (KCCI) has awarded the contract for creating a 2-hour long musical around the story of the Princess Suriratna of Ayodhya going to South Korea in 48 AD and becoming Queen Huh Hwang-ok after getting married to King Kim Suro there to a New Delhi-based theatre group ‘Theatre I-Entertainment’.

Imran Khan, Founding Trustee, Theatre I-Entertainment Trust told Asian Community News (ACN) Network that the work on the Musical which was yet to be formally name has taken off and it will be available for showcasing around September this year.

“This will be a broadways-type musical to be performed in the Hindi language, and it will have Indian artists performing in it. But we have Korean artists and a director, and a music composer from Korea helping us in the project as they would be advising us on the Korean part of the play.”

Since the play would have Korean culture as part of it in the form of some classical music performances like Tal Chum (Mask Dance), the Indian theatre group needs the help of Korean counterparts to bring authenticity to the play.

“We plan to organize the first show in Delhi around September, and the second around Diwali at the time of the launch of the Queen Huh Hwang-ok Memorial Park in Ayodhya and the third show in Lucknow around that time only,” Khan added.

Princess Suriratna of Ayodhya who became Queen Huh of Korea after marry King Kim Suro.

Uttar Pradesh Government plans to inaugurate the Suriratna Memorial Park around Diwali, and therefore the show timings coincide with that only. KCCI Director Hwang Il-yong also had visited the park in November to take stock of the progress of the construction.

Khan said the live performances of the shows would also be recorded and later played on Indian and Korean televisions as well as radios.

Depending upon the success of this Musical in India, the KCCI might later decide to get it organized in Korea also when Korean artists might be invited to lay some part of it, and the Korean language could also be introduced alongside Hindi, Khan added.

As many as 6 to 7 well known Indian musical companies of Delhi and Mumbai applied to get this project, but Theatre I-Entertainment was finally short-listed.

About the history that dates back to 2000 years:

According to Korean ancient history book, [Samguk Yusa], in AD 48, the Queen of King Suro (Ayuta`s princess), at the age of 16, crossed the ocean on a ship with Pasaseoktap on board under the order of the king of Ayuta, and married King Suro, who founded Gaya in Korea.

This Ayuta is considered as Ayodhya of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.). Based on this historical record along with other sources, Queen Huh story has been used as a cultural and diplomatic tie between two countries, India and Korea, Queen Huh memorial park at Ayodhya will be the essence and symbol of this cultural & diplomatic tie.

About Theatre I-Entertainment:

Imran Khan, Founding Trustee, Theatre I-Entertainment Trust

Theatre I-Entertainment is a trust which recently conducted PITARA Festival that was supported by the KCCI. The virtual PITARA Festival also has conducted a screening of “The Bird by Miduelle Theatre” a South Korean play.

Theatre I Entertainment was started in the year 2006 with the motive of providing good quality theatre for young audiences. In the last 14 years, the Trust has conducted numerous workshops for children of all ages and backgrounds across India and created a large number of quality productions with them.

To give children an Idea of professional theatre and to present them with specialized theatre created for them, the Trust has produced many productions for children by professional adults, especially using some fantastic folk stories from across the world.

Some of the highly successful productions are – “Bhasmasur-a non-verbal musical”; “Three oriental Tales”; “My room My world” and “Yeh Dunia Rangeen”. With the production of “My Room My world” the trust became the first company in North India and the second company across India to produce specialized work for toddlers and children in early childhood (1 year to 5 years old).