Big Fish Little Worm now in Korean

In 2008 I was on a plane between Chicago and New York, and I told a gentleman on my row that I was going to be performing in Beijing during the Olympics and I'd like to have Beyond the Chariots translated into as many languages as possible. He said, I think our church could translate it to Korean. They did, and thanks to them there were North Koreans in the audience who were able to understand the play!

In 2010 I brought the play to Seoul, where Korean translations were developed for another of my plays, Big Fish/Little Worm.

Here are the places we performed on that trip:

FAR EAST BROADCASTING COMPANY
Excerpts from Big Fish/Little Worm

US ARMY, 8TH COMMAND
Chapels:
Beyond the Chariots
Big Fish/Little Worm

WONCHON BAPTIST CHURCH
Beyond the Chariots

NAMSEOUL UNIVERSITY
Beyond the Chariots
Workshop

SEOUL FOREIGN SCHOOL
Assembly
Workshops

CENTRAL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
Chapel performances
Sociodrama for faculty
Evening performance for the community

GYEONGGI SUWON INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
Acting workshops
Chapel presentations

GYEONGGI ACADEMY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Chapel performance with Q/A

TAEJON CHRISTIAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
Workshop
Assembly

INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF UIJONGBU
Workshop
Assembly Performance 

Visit www.RichDrama.com/Korea for highlights of the trip.

We're hoping to bring both plays back to Korea for the 2018 Olympics. 

An ad from Korea

This video was prepared for my performance and workshop in Korea earlier this month. We now have Korean translation slides available for Big Fish Little Worm as well as Beyond the Chariots, which was translated for performances in China during the Beijing Olympics.

What a way to go away

Our last morning in Korea was spent at a monthly Bible study for the Steering Committee for Far East Broadcasting Company, the radio station that interviewed me last week. Billy Kim (photo above), who oversees the FEBC, was the translator for Billy Graham during his 1973 crusade. Since then, Billy Kim has become a prominent evangelist and humanitarian in Korea.

After the Bible study I performed excerpts from Big Fish/Little Worm at their chapel. I was followed by a congressman. He shared that at the time Korea was divided there was only one Christian in congress. Now about 30% are Christian.

FEBC has started a new radio station in an area that has kept them out for 25 years. Whenever they put in a new station Christianity grows, so they're quite excited about this breakthrough.

Crosses over Seoul

My camera phone doesn't capture them, but we can see 10 red crosses of churches from one window in the Seoul Tower.

Broadcast throughout Asia

This morning I was interviewed on the Far East Broadcasting Company, and the interview will go out to the regions indicated on this map.

After the interview I got to perform Big Fish/Little Worm for Billy Kim and his staff at Far East Broadcasting Company. Dr. Kim is the grandfather of my former theatre student, Aaron Kim, and has worked with Billy Graham, Jimmy Carter, Rick Warren, and many others.

For more photos from FEBC and our current tour of Asia, visit the Asia 2010 photo albums at Facebook.com/RichDrama.

5 hours

Students spend five hours studying here and only sleep that same amount.

A rooster crowed

A rooster crowed just as I snapped this shot of Suwon, Korea, at sunrise. We're off to perform Big Fish Little Worm and Beyond the Chariots for the US Army 8th Command, stationed in Seoul.

Earlier on this trip we performed Beyond the Chariots with Korean translations at Wonchon Baptist Church, here in Suwon.

Photo courtesy of Jeong-Rae Lee, who worked with Ellen Stewart and La MaMa in New York and to bring their production of Trojan Women to a festival in Seoul.

These performances along with performances and workshops at local high schools and a university were set up by Rev. Joseph Kim, who is the headmaster of Central Christian Academy, and the father of Aaron Kim, who was a theatre student of mine.

For stories from our Korean travels, including our trip to the DMZ, visit RichDrama.com/Korea, and for more photos visit Facebook.com/RichDrama and the photo albums Asia 2010 Part 3 and Asia 2010 Part 4.

Farmers dance

This is a traditional Korean farmers' dance. I can't imagine they work in the fields dressed in white!

Standing in North Korea

This table marks the border between North and South Korea.  Standing in North Korea we prayed for their nation and for the two to be restored.  All of the South Koreans that we've spoken to seem to want this.  Many families have been separated by the division.  The only way to visit them is to cross the bridge of no return.  We posted a photo of that earlier.

Praying Korea back together

Joyce and I are in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. One half of this sphere is missing North Korea. The other half is missing South Korea. This sculpture is a sort of enacted prayer for the reunification of Korea.

You can see photos of the inside of each half of the sphere under the photo album Asia 2010 Part 3 at Facebook.com/RichDrama.

Up from the depths

We just surfaced after walking down into one of four tunnels that the North Koreans created in a plan to launch a surprise attack South Korea in the 70's. This one was revealed by a gentleman who defected to South Korea.

We were unable to take photos in the tunnel itself, but the walls were painted black because when it was discovered the North Koreans said it was a coal mine. There's no coal in the area.

We slept through a typhoon!

Joyce and I woke in the night to the sound of a storm. This morning we discovered that it was a typhoon that destroyed dozens of trees on the campus where we're staying. Many schools were closed throughout Korea, but we're thanking the Lord that the school where I taught today stayed open. Yay!

Freedom House

This building was created for families separated by the division to meet in the DMZ, but North Korea has never allowed citizens to leave so the building only welcomes tourists.

Clasped Hands

This design indicates the clasped hands of unification.

Hopeful building

This train station was built in hopes of unification. Once there is only one Korea we will be allowed to travel all the way to London. It is currently the northern terminus.

The photo line

Joyce is standing on the other side of the photo line. The crossed out camera on the top of the pole indicates that once you cross the yellow line you cannot take photos.

Propaganda Village

This village in North Korea is not really inhabited. It was designed to lure South Koreans to defect. They used to send propaganda over the border through blaring loudspeakers. The flag is one of the tallest in the world at 160m, which beats the one in Kuala Lumpur by 60m.

Bridge of No Return

At a certain point some Koreans were allowed to choose sides. They could cross this bridge, but once they did they could never return.

The most dangerous golf course on earth

This 1-hole, par 3 course in the DMZ is surrounded by land mines.

It's almost noon...

We were supposed to fly direct from LA to Hong Kong, but winds over the Polar Ice Cap this time of year often prohibit flights that long.

I had stops here each way when I ran a cross-country race in Canton, China, as a high schooler.

On that trip we got a tour of the Olympic pavilion, just as they were gearing up to host the world.