'I hear your voice' members are practicing all together

SNU Institute for Global Social Responsibility (IGSR) is producing a musical starring 30 SNU students and 10 members from the Siloam Center for the Blind. The musical, titled I Hear Your Voice, will be an audio-only show composed mainly of songs and a minimal amount of dialogue.

Unlike a typical musical that features dancing and movement, IGSR's audio-musical will have its performers seated on a dark stage. This format allows the audience to focus on the voices of those performing, rather than on their disability.

YOON Handeuk and BANG Eun Hye, IGSR employees in charge of this project, explained that IGSR became acquainted with the Siloam Center while trying to create an activity in which SNU students could interact with the disabled. After visiting the center, IGSR was able to learn about what blind people really needed."We realized that [the disabled] were more interested in participating in artistic and cultural activities than they were in material support," Mr. Yoon and Ms. Bang added. Since the audio-only format ensures that there is"no distinction between the blind and the able-bodied," the project organizers created a musical consisting entirely of voices. To enhance the quality of the show, the crew also receives professional training from musical actress PARK Soo Jin.

The story of I Hear Your Voice centers on a high school girl who discovers her mother's diary. She traces her mother's past as a student, an employee and a housewife, and learns about her dreams and aspirations that were ultimately unfulfilled. The musical explores the theme of overcoming obstacles to pursue one's dream. Many of the performers said they could personally relate to this theme, as joining a musical was something they had always wanted to do, but were not able to. For JEON Young Han, a graduate student at the Department of Electrical Engineering, I Hear Your Voice is a meaningful step toward his dream of becoming a performer, a dream that he temporarily set aside after facing objections from his family. For Mr. WOO Dong Wook, who lost his sight in 2011 due to retinitis pigmentosa, singing was his method of persevering through this life-changing transition and rediscovering his life. Other SNU students pointed out that preparing for the musical has been an invaluable opportunity to share musical interests with their fellow participants.

Weekly practice

Everyone involved in the I Hear Your Voice project has been practicing together weekly since mid-July, when recruitment began, and the audio-musical will be presented from October 26 to 27 in the Cultural Center (Building 73), during Social Responsibility Week at SNU.

IGSR plans to organize similar projects working with other disadvantaged groups."Our aim is not to practice social responsibility toward a specific target. Social responsibility is more than simply 'helping.' The essence of communication and the basis of social responsibility is enabling everyone to spend meaningful time and appreciate the value of being together."

Written by YOON Jiwon, SNU English Editor, jiwonyoon@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Professor Travis Smith, Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, tlsmith@snu.ac.kr