South Korean valentine event brings magic to Whitewater

Hannah Michalowski, Journalist

A South Korean family production,  the Family Valentine Event Yao Yao, came to Young Auditorium on Feb. 13 with exciting learning visuals for children.

Families filed in Thursday night for a creating screen art show by Brush Theatre. The story begins with the relationship between a father and his young daughter, Yao. The pair is shown building and learning together, except Yao is not pleased when dad must leave for work. One day, as dad leaves, Yao pulls a string from his jacket which leads to a magical world. Facing obstacles on her own, Yao builds knowledge on how to handle situations individually. Eventually Yao has experienced enough challenges on her own to go out and face the real world without her dad. With very little words throughout the show, the cast uses visual aids through different lighting and screen art to allow the children to depict what is happening on their own.     

“The children are given the ability to use their imagination during the program. It was very impressive how with such little props they were able to depict animals, noises, songs, and characters,” guest Andrea Jacobs said.

Laughing children filled Young Auditorium as many of them shouted out what they believed was happening throughout the production. Many times, they would start to say one thing and then realize it could be something of a completely different nature.

“As a cast, we take everything the audience does into account. This is actually the fifth and final version of the show, but we have been constantly editing the production based on audience feedback. It was a little slow tonight since the crowd was not the biggest but it is still fun to hear what the kids have to say,” Hmoo Hyunjoon Moon, production manager of Brush Theatre stated.

Brush Theatre, based in Seoul, South Korea, tours all over the world portraying a unique type of screen art for families.

“These performances are educational, engaging, and entertaining for children of all ages and feature artists that really interact with the audience,” Young Auditorium states on their website.

Fun was had by all at the Yao Yao event and it was a great way to bring the community together.