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Dateline: 26th May, 2004 Greenwich to Stage Korean Play Greenwich Playhouse is to stage the UK Premiere of one of the finest modern plays to come out of Korea. The Darkness in a Wooden Bell, by Lee Man-Hee, portrays a Buddhist monk's inner torment as his inability to escape the attachments of his past renders futile his quest for spiritual enlightenment. Lee Man-Hee is an acclaimed contemporary Korean playwright and winner of numerous literary awards. In the play he draws deeply on his own experience, saying that the play is "the fusion of my ardour for religion and for literature, of my pursuit of the ideal self and my coming to terms with my present self. " Wooden Bell, first performed in Korea in 1990, is set in the apparent tranquillity and space of a Korean Buddhist temple, which comes to symbolise the inner conflict of a would-be zealous monk. But that monk's conflict could be our own: the themes of the play are not confined to Korea, Buddhism, temples or monks. The staging of the play is a rare opportunity for a London audience to gain an insight into a spiritual philosophy which guides the lives of a large proportion of the world's population. Wooden Bell is directed by Hoonjae Kim, one of Korea's foremost young directors. Nigel Hook's sensitive set design combines with Dudley James' evocative lighting to convey the physical serenity and inner challenges of a Korean temple, and to present a visually stunning piece. The experienced cast comprises actors from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and the UK - You-Ri Yamanaka, Jay Lim, Will Hudson, Mark Pang and Richard Morris - who between them present a blend of cultures to underscore the universality of the text. The plangent chords of authentic Korean instruments complete what promises to be a memorable production. Wooden Bell is staged by Lathos, a company dedicated to the staging of the very best of contemporary international and intercultural theatre. Its most recent production was a Finnish play, Are there Tigers in the Congo?, in which two writers grappled with the task of writing a comedy about AIDS, only to find the topic becoming ever more personal to them and their loved ones.
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