[Traditional N] Park Seong-hee's "Sugungga," A Complete Pansori Shaped Th...

Nights at the National Theater often begin with deep resonance. On June 6, the Daloreum Theater of the National Theater of Korea will host a stage where the accumulated discipline and interpretation of one sori singer unfold in full. The National Changgeuk Company’s long-running “Complete Pansori” series has established itself as one of the formats most faithful to the essence of pansori, and within that tradition, master singer Park Seong-hee’s “Sugungga” returns as a performance where tradition and the present intersect through prolonged musical breath.

Complete pansori performance, or wanchang, requires a singer to carry an entire work from beginning to end without excerpt or reduction. The form demands extreme concentration, physical endurance, breath control, emotional pacing, and narrative balance. Because the full arc of the story must be sustained over several hours, the repeated movement between tension and release gradually deepens the density of the performance itself. Wanchang functions not simply as a recital, but as a shared temporal experience constructed between singer and audience.

Park Seong-hee’s “Sugungga” poster for the June 2026 Complete Pansori series. Photo by National Changgeuk Company of Korea.

Park Seong-hee’s artistic path reflects a trajectory shaped through multiple stages rather than a single uninterrupted course. She first revealed her musical talent while studying under master Kim So-hee during childhood, but later expanded her interests toward Korean music theory and percussion performance. A decisive turning point came after the birth of her first child in 1993, when she returned to pansori and committed herself fully to the path of a sori singer. Under the guidance of master Jeon Jeong-min, she deepened her interpretation within the traditional lineage, allowing the accumulated layers of experience to settle more distinctly into her sound.

The “Sugungga” presented in this performance remains one of the five major pansori repertoires most strongly associated with wit, tension, and narrative intelligence. Built around the story of a turtle sent to bring a rabbit to the Dragon King’s underwater palace, the work continually shifts between humor and danger as the rabbit attempts to escape crisis through clever speech and improvisation. Although widely familiar in narrative outline, the emotional flow of the work changes significantly depending on the singer’s interpretation and vocal construction.

The Misanje style of “Sugungga” chosen by Park Seong-hee is known for combining the robust projection of Dongpyeonje traditions with the refined emotional sensitivity associated with Seopyeonje. Developed through a lineage extending from Song Heung-rok to Park Cho-wol, the style maintains powerful vocal resonance and clear tonal structure while broadening the emotional range of the narrative. This balance allows the performance to sustain dramatic tension while expanding the emotional texture of the story itself.

Within that lineage, Park Seong-hee has developed her own interpretive voice through flexible movement between upper and lower vocal registers. The technique functions not merely as ornamentation, but as a structural element shaping the dramatic flow of the performance.

Her long career based in Busan also carries particular significance. Working outside the region traditionally regarded as the center of pansori, Park continued building her stage experience steadily over decades. The accumulated experience of sustaining performance beyond regional limitations has added a distinctive color to her sound, one expected to emerge more clearly on the National Theater stage.

The role of the gosu, or drum accompanist, remains essential to the structure of the performance. The rhythmic patterns of the buk support the movement of the sori while remaining tightly connected to the singer’s breathing. For this performance, Shin Mun-beom and Jo Yong-an join as accompanists, providing stable rhythmic foundations shaped through their respective experiences in education and intangible heritage transmission.

Professor Seong Gi-ryeon will provide commentary throughout the performance, helping audiences follow the narrative structure during the extended running time. While complete pansori may feel unfamiliar to some viewers, thoughtful commentary broadens accessibility without reducing the integrity of the form itself.

Since beginning in 1984, the National Theater’s “Complete Pansori” series has continued for more than four decades, accumulating over 300 performances. The series has preserved the original structure of pansori while gradually expanding its point of contact with contemporary audiences. More than a performance program, it has become an ongoing example of continuity within traditional Korean performing arts.

For a sori singer, wanchang performance functions as a major artistic milestone. Because the singer must reveal the full extent of interpretation and technical ability within a single uninterrupted performance, the stage becomes a measure of artistic achievement itself. At the same time, audiences encounter the complete structure of pansori through prolonged immersion in the flow of sound and narrative.

This performance carries additional meaning for Park Seong-hee as her fourth complete performance of “Sugungga.” The years spent returning repeatedly to the same work have gradually accumulated new layers within her interpretation, producing shifts in texture rather than repetition. Each performance expands upon the previous one, forming a different emotional and musical contour.

Park Seong-hee has also expressed her intention to remain a senior artist who illuminates a path for younger performers. At the moment when one performer’s stage becomes a bridge to the next generation, tradition continues without interruption. Complete pansori itself functions as a form of transmission, and the time sustained onstage extends toward the future.

Pansori continues to exist as a living art of the present. Though grounded in inherited form, each performance is newly constructed through the singer’s interpretation. Even the same “Sugungga” becomes a different sound shaped by the sensibility of the present moment, and that difference survives most fully within the experience of the live stage.

The upcoming performance at the National Theater’s Daloreum Theater belongs to the kind of art difficult to reduce into record or archive. The shared breath, tension, and gradual release formed within the theater can only be completed in that space and time. Park Seong-hee’s voice is expected to carry that flow of time directly to the audience.

Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press

* This article was manually prepared as a translated piece and later proofread and reviewed with the assistance of AI.