Grand Prize Winner of the 3rd Seoul Arts Awards: Jeok Theater Company's Play The Jew of Malta ©Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture

The Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture announced on the 19th that the Grand Prize at the 3rd Seoul Arts Awards has been awarded to the theater group Jeok’s play The Jew of Malta.

The Foundation held the awards ceremony that afternoon at the Haneul Theater of the National Theater of Korea, where The Jew of Malta was announced as the Grand Prize winner, receiving a cash award of 20 million KRW.

The Seoul Arts Awards is a program that selects outstanding works from among those supported by the Foundation’s arts funding programs or presented in Seoul. The Grand Prize is awarded to one final winner selected from among six Best Work Awardees.

The play The Jew of Malta is a comedy about the main character, Barabas, who uses his wealth to commit misdeeds on the small island of Malta, and the greed of those who covet his money.

The jury praised the play, stating, “It stood out for its profound directorial approach and the compelling performance of its lead actor. It garnered strong support from both audiences and theater professionals, presenting a new methodology for successfully modernizing a Western classic.”
 
The Best Work Award was given to six recipients, including The Jew of Malta, as well as:

All the Worlds by LICAIDANCE (Dance) ▲Piano Recital: Schumann 1810–1856 by Dohyun Kim (Music) ▲Ogut: Resurrection by Hyo Young Kim, featuring the traditional instrument saenghwang (Traditional) ▲Bongnaesan—Formosa Project by Nahyun (Visual) ▲Circus Effect by Jiyeon Kim and Balancing Balanced (Interdisciplinary).
 
The Porsche Frontier Award was awarded to: ▲Cookie, Ann, Cream by Trunk Theater Project (Theater) ▲Hanok in the Western Theater by Ubomanri (Dance)  ▲Complete Mendelssohn String Quartets 1 & 2 by Abel Quartet (Music) ▲Percussion concert The Sound of Jangdan: FRONT by Insoo Kim (Traditional) ▲Alongside by Goyoson (Visual) ▲Aged Technology by Sejin Song (Interdisciplinary).
 
Each Best Work Award winner receives 15 million KRW in prize money, while each Porsche Frontier Award winner receives 10 million KRW.
 
In the Jury's Special Award – Artistic Works category, the following were selected: ▲Dried Peppers and Peach-Scented Lipstick by Ballin' Gochoo Club (Theater) ▲Questo è Rossini!, a tenor recital by Hyojong Kim (Music) ▲The Shamanic Sensory Activation of the Gayageum by Seyoun Park (Traditional) ▲3 p.m. in Seoul by Eunju Lee (Visual).
 
In the Jury's Special Award – Disabled Artists category, the honoree was Jisoo Kim, representative of Theater Ae-in. Each recipient of the Jury’s Special Award receives 5 million KRW.

The awards ceremony was attended by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, city officials, and artists. The Grand Prize was presented jointly by veteran actress Jeongja Park and Song Hyeong-jong, President of the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture.

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