See Korean play Chronicle of Alibis in Brussels on 18 January

Hosted by the Korean Cultural Center in Brussels, Chronicle of Alibis is an acclaimed stage play written and directed by Kim Jae-yeop.

The performance at KVS Bol on 18 January will be conducted in Korean with English surtitles. Selected as the best play in Korea in 2013, it’s the first large-scale show in the Korean language to be performed in Belgium.

Chronicle of Alibis is an autobiographical work, in which Jae-yeop uses the real names of his family. It expresses the anguish of an ordinary individual who leads a somewhat isolated existence and is unable to fully adapt to real life. The family’s story, dating from his father’s birth in 1930, is entwined with the history of his nation. It incorporates many of the major events that have marked Korean identity, including Japanese colonial rule, the country’s liberation in 1945, the Korean War in the 1950s and political dictatorship in the 1980s.

The inspiration for the play was a hospital bed confession by Jae-yeop’s father in 2004, in which the war veteran revealed his alibis. In 2013, the playwright and director wrote the story that is centred on his father, older brother and himself. The word alibi in the title is generally used in criminal investigations and it enabled Jae-yeop to raise questions about Korea’s history. The characters in the play are neither good nor bad, they are shown to be individuals who are marked by their country’s past.

Jae-yeop started to attract attention when he won the Annual Spring Literary Contest in 2002. Since then, he has built a reputation as a director who excels equally in dramatic expression as well as documentary works, two qualities that he combines in Chronicle of Alibis.

Currently artistic director of Dream Play These21, Jae-yeop is also a professor at Korea National University of Arts. He says of his dramatic and highly-personal work: "I wanted to make a 'good’ play even if it's not a ‘play’ rather than making up a fable in an era where direct speech is required."

Chronicle of Alibis
18 January, 19.30
KVS Bol
Rue de Laeken 146. Sorry! Our prize giveaway has now closed and the winners have been notified.