A Brilliant Korea Move As Performers From Across the Globe Converge On Edinburgh, Mark Brown Travels to South Korea to Discover Why the Fringe Remains the Biggest Artistic Draw On the Planet
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Summary
THE splendid Hwa Gye Sa temple, at the foot of Mount Samgak, on the outskirts of the sprawling South Korean capital, Seoul, is a treasure of Korean Buddhism. I arrive in the early evening, eat dinner with the monks, then take a walk by the waterfall which flows behind the temple. The sound of the cascading water mixes with birdsong as the congregation begins the sonorous incantations of evening prayers in the Great Hall.
It all seems a world away from the frenzy of Edinburgh during the Festival, when the unsuspecting visitor risks being trampled by the armies of desperate theatre companies who peddle forests of promotional leaflets on the Royal Mile. Just crossing The Mound is an endurance test, as one struggles through the thronging crowds straining to see an Australian fire-eater on a unicycle. Hwa Gye Sa seems like the Korean calm before the cultural storm of Edinburgh in August.See the full content of this document
Extract
A Brilliant Korea Move As Performers From Across the Globe Converge On Edinburgh, Mark Brown Travels to South Korea to Discover Why the Fringe Remains the Biggest Artistic Draw On the Planet
I should have known better. Anyone who knows anything about the Far East Asian concept of yin and yang knows that the cultures of the region are invested with the notion of a unity of opposites. Not for them the constant quiet contemplation of a European Christian monastery. At the invitation of the abbot of the temple, traditional Korean music company Dulsori are about to make some noise in the courtya...
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