top of page

The Tempest

Official English Title.gif

1999

태풍

The Tempest (태풍) is a large-scale Korean original musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s final play, blending Eastern and Western musical traditions to depict reconciliation, love, and renewal through a fantastical narrative.

1999

​Posters included in this archive are embedded solely for documentary and educational purposes.

🔗 All images are linked to their original sources or articles. No copyright ownership is claimed.

SOURCE

novel

SETTING

Foreign

BOOK

adaptation

국내 프로덕션

1999.11 🔴 Seoul Arts Center Opera House (Seoul)
2000.02 🔴 Seoul Arts Center Opera House (Seoul)
2001.03 🔴 Seoul Arts Center Opera House (Seoul)
2002.12 🔴 National Theater of Korea, Haeoreum Theater (Seoul)

SYNOPSIS

(Full Synopsis)

Set on a remote island surrounded by the sea, the musical unfolds after a violent storm shipwrecks a royal party, orchestrated by the exiled magician Prospero, who seeks justice and reconciliation.

Twelve years earlier, Prospero, the rightful ruler, was betrayed by his brother Antonio with the support of King Alonso and cast away with his daughter Miranda. Now living on a magical island, Prospero commands the spirit Ariel to conjure a tempest, scattering the shipwrecked survivors across the island.

Miranda meets Ferdinand, Alonso’s son, and the two fall in love at first sight. Prospero tests Ferdinand’s character before consenting to their union, seeing in them the possibility of reconciliation between past enemies.

Meanwhile, other survivors wander the island. Antonio and Sebastian plot to seize power by murdering Alonso, but their conspiracy is thwarted by Ariel. Elsewhere, the drunken Stephano and jester Trinculo conspire with Caliban, the island’s original inhabitant, to overthrow Prospero.

As the story unfolds, Prospero confronts his enemies not with vengeance but with forgiveness. The lovers are united, old conflicts are resolved, and Prospero renounces his magical powers, restoring harmony and order. The narrative concludes with themes of forgiveness, renewal, and the hope of a new era.

​제작 노트

Premiered in November 1999 at the Seoul Arts Center Opera House by the Seoul Performing Arts Company, The Tempest (태풍) was conceived as a large-scale “millennium musical,” reflecting both global cultural exchange and national artistic ambition at the turn of the 21st century.

Based on William Shakespeare’s final play, the production reinterpreted the original text through a hybrid musical language combining Western symphonic traditions with Korean compositional elements. The score, composed collaboratively by Czech composer Sylvie Bodorová (Barták reference contextually) and Korean composer Kim Dae-sung, was performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, emphasizing its international scope.

The production was notable for its fully pre-recorded orchestral score rather than live pit performance, a choice that allowed for sonic scale but drew mixed responses regarding theatrical immediacy. Despite this, the work was recognized for successfully integrating diverse musical idioms across cultural boundaries.

As a recurring repertory production, it returned multiple times between 1999 and 2002 at major venues, including the Seoul Arts Center and the National Theater of Korea, establishing itself as one of the representative large-scale Korean adaptations of Western canonical drama.

포스터 콜렉션

포스터 이미지는 기록용으로만 사용되며, 모든 권리는 원저작자 및 제작사에 있습니다.

REFERENCES

Synopsis Sources

     

The Musical Synopsis

https://www.themusical.co.kr/Musical/Detail?num=510

     

KBS Synopsis Article

https://news.kbs.co.kr/news/pc/view/view.do?ncd=391269

     

     

Articles & Reviews

     

JoongAng Review

https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/505040

     

Korea Government Speech

https://www.korea.kr/briefing/speechView.do?newsId=132009874

     

Seoul Newspaper Article

https://www.seoul.co.kr/news/seoulPrintNew.php?id=19991111014003

     

Munhwa Ilbo Article

https://www.munhwa.com/article/10399969

favicon_new.png

© 2026 by Musicalsofkorea
이 사이트의 소유자로부터 명시적이고 서면으로 허가를 받지 않은 자료의 무단 사용 및/또는 복제는 금지합니다. 발췌 및 링크는 명확한 출처를 명시한 후 사용 가능합니다.

최종 업데이트: May 27, 2026

bottom of page