A Korean version of Shakespeare's Macbeth is one of the highlights of Korean Week, which kicked off in Beijing on June 18. It will combine with many traditional dance and music shows at the National Center for the Performing Arts.

The program will showcase Korean art and culture as planned by China's Ministry of Culture and Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

It is part of Beijing's Meet in Beijing Arts Festival, which celebrates the upcoming Games.

Six performing arts companies from South Korea are expected to offer Beijing audiences diverse dance, music and theatrical productions to demonstrate both traditional and contemporary arts.

The National Opera of Korea will bring the opera Match Made in Heaven to the Century Theater on June 28 and 29.

Directed by Yang Jeong Woong and conducted by Kim Deok Ki, the comedic opera tells of the clashes that exist between the strict marriage customs of Old Korea and the younger generation's pursuit for love and freedom.

The Seoul Performing Arts Company will perform The King's Jerster at the Century Theater on July 5 and 6. The musical includes a variety of traditional performance ranging from street operas to acrobatics.

The Korean musical, which is based on the 2005 South Korean blockbuster hit-film The King and the Clown - was drawn from Kim Tae-woong's play Yi. Kim's play has also enjoyed popularity in Southeast Asia, including China.

The Korean Arts Management Service has also organized South Korea's top three contemporary theater companies to give performances in the capital.

Theater Gol Mok Gil will show Beautiful Youth at the Chaoyang Nine Theaters from July 2 to 4. The play is about a father, who lost his job and his problem son, who does nothing but fool around all day.

Korea's famous Sadari Movement Laboratory brings a dynamic piece of theatrical drama to Beijing with their stripped-down interpretation of Georg Buchner's Woyzeck at the Chaoyang Nine Theaters from July 9 to 11.

The play is based on the true story of a poor German soldier, who was driven to madness by inhuman military murders and discipline.

Founded in 1999, Sadari is one of Korea's best-known young theater companies. The production has been invited to tour all over the world and was a sold-out success at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it won the Herald Angel and Total Theatre Award.

Korean Week will wrap up with Theater Moollee's Lady Macbeth at the Oriental Avant-garde Theater from July 11 to 13. This experimental Lady Macbeth is a thorough rewrite of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Theater Moollee, founded by director and playwright Tae-Sook Han in 1997, is an experimental theater group. It is known within the international theatre community for its controversial works.

(Chinaculture.org June 26, 2008)