Nigerians were immersed into the world of Korean Opera with the screening of Chunhyang Escape at the Korea Culture Center Nigeria (KCCN), Abuja. A 2021 comedic-opera adaptation of the traditional Korean folktale ‘Chunhyangjeon’, Yoon Mi-hyun’s ‘Chunhyang Escape’ reimagines one of Korea’s most famous love stories set in the fourteenth century patriarchal society, by infusing in the female characters a sense of independence and the right of choice and control of their destiny. Contrary to the original tale where the protagonist Chunhyang, the daughter of a gisaeng, falls for Yi Mong-ryong, the son of a district magistrate, and endures prison time for the sake of her love, till he passed his national exam to come save her, Mi-hyun’s Chunhyang, with the help of her handmaid Hyangdan, escapes from the clutches of Byeon, the new governor of Namwon, to proactively seek solution to her problem.
Among the many lessons and perspectives provided in this adaptation, Mi-hyun shows that love does not necessarily overcome everything – as viewers see Mong-ryong fail the national exam thrice, and in fact, never became a government official. It took Chunhyang’s rearrest, to ignite his fire to alert the King’s officials to take action against the love-obsessed Byeon. While she supported her mistress to the end, the Nigerian viewers could further relate to Hyangdan’s suggestion that marrying a single, powerful and intelligent man (Byeon) is admittedly more tempting than a d.
