NANTA

one of my students from last semester invited me to go with her to see the internationally renown performance, NANTA, as part of the korea in motion festival. NANTA is a nonverbal performance that combines korean traditional "samulnori" rhythm (using primarily kitchen tools) with dancing, drama, and comedy.the synopsis of the show, in NANTA'S own words:
"Three cooks start their day.
While they are busy preparing the vegetables and organizing the kitchen, a bad tempered manager appears. He orders them to prepare the food for a wedding by 6 o'clock in the afternoon.
The cooks, who had not been told about this event, are caught completely off-guard.
Not only that, the manager also brings his young nephew with him and demands that the cooks teach him how to cook and prepare food.
The manager exits after barking these seemingly impossible orders.
At first, the cooks don't like this clueless boy, but have to get on with their work.
They start preparing the food, but things don't go on smoothly.
The boy and three cooks get closer, though, and the audience joins the show.
The cooks struggle to prepare the dishes as quickly as possible, and manage to set the table by 6pm.
The wedding banquet draws to a successful conclusion."
i was not aware that this performance utilized audience participation. about 30 minutes into the show a couple of performers jumped offstage and bounded out into the audience. i crouched down as low as i could in my seat, but being that i was sitting on the aisle and stuck out like a sore thumb with my yellow mop, i knew my chances of avoiding this one were slim. as soon as the guy saw me, he grabbed my hand and urged me to come with him. i turned and looked pleadingly at my student. she seemed way too excited and nearly pushed me out of my seat. there was no escaping. the guy led me on stage where i met my husband-to-be.

they quickly donned us in traditional korean wedding attire. they even strapped a crown-hat onto my head. it turned out we were now the happy couple whose wedding feast was being prepared. our duty was to taste and approve the food the cooks had whipped up so far as they danced and drummed all around us. after my eyes adjusted to being blinded by the light, i started to have a really good time up there, to ham it up a bit. my husband-to-be must have been only 16 years old and clearly embarrassed beyond belief to be on display in front of hundreds of people. i tried to make him more comfortable by making faces at him as we were sampling the food. right as he was beginning to relax a bit, we heard a fly buzzing around the kitchen. the cooks looked alarmed and began to chase the sound around the room until it led them straight to the nose of my sweet, little husband-to-be! they swatted him right smack in the face and probably traumatized him for life. the crowd went wild. soon after that we were released to leave the stage, together, arm in arm, with rice thrown upon us as we took a deep bow.

now, the funniest part: i had no idea i was part of a wedding couple in this little scenario until i was back in my seat for about half an hour. suddenly it hit me that i had been brought up there to taste the food being prepared for MY wedding feast, and the little guy who had accompanied me was supposed to be my future husband. i had NO idea at the time. absolutely NO CLUE. i just thought i was one of two audience members being brought up on stage as added entertainment. the rice didn't even give it away. nor did the crown-hat. i had to laugh when i realized how truly oblivious i have grown to such situations!