SASKATOON — In the winter of 1952, Canadian soldiers in two regiments were pulled from the front lines of the Korean War for an unusual mission: playing hockey on the frozen Imjin River.
The friendly games became a symbol of Korean-Canadian cultural exchange. This summer, a team of University of Saskatchewan (USask) Indigenous theatre artists will head to Korea to shape an artistic collaboration celebrating that event and Canada’s contribution to the Korean War.
School for the Arts faculty member Deneh’Cho Thompson is the Canadian lead of a project to produce an original musical that will be staged in Korea and Canada to mark the 2024-25 Canada-Korea Year of Cultural Exchanges and the 75th anniversary of the Korean War.
The show, titled R:LINK, centres on the story of the April 1951 Battle of Kapyong—now called Gapyeong—in which massively outnumbered Canadian, Australian and New Zealand soldiers stopped the advance of Chinese forces. It was a critical moment in the war that helped prevent the capture of Seoul.
Thompson and a delegation of Canadian artists travelled to Korea in March .
“The importance of this story was not as clear to me as it could have been until we travelled to 小蓝视频 Korea for the launch event. The clear cultural impact that Commonwealth soldiers had on Korea by assisting in that war is lasting today,” said Thompson, a director, actor and playwright and a member of the Pehdzeh ki Nation.
USask faculty member Deneh’Cho Thompson, student Corbin Basso and graduate Leze Pewapsconias. | Photos courtesy USask
USask artists are co-creating the musical in partnership with Korea’s Hanyang University and Canada’s Capilano University and First Nations University (FNUniv). Six young Canadian actors—including three from USask—will perform the show alongside Korean actors. FNUniv student Tyrone Perreault is co-writing the play.
Fourth-year USask drama student Corbin Basso is one of those recruited by Thompson to perform in the musical.
“I couldn’t say no. It was an opportunity like I’d never been offered before,” said Basso, who is from the coast of British Columbia and is of Haida ancestry.
The Canadian team will return to Korea in mid-June for several weeks of rehearsals. They will perform in Seoul on July 26 and 27 and in Vancouver on Aug. 15 and 16.
“(Korea) is somewhere that I’ve never been before. And I know that the day-to-day lifestyle over there is definitely going to be different than it is here. There’s going to be different ways that they do things, especially in terms of theatre. And that’s exciting to me, to be able to go and learn new things and adopt them into my own practices,” said Basso.
, another actor on the project, travelled to Korea for the March launch, where they were part of a live preview of some of R:LINK’s scenes and musical numbers. Dignitaries including the Canadian ambassador to Korea, the president of Hanyang University, and the Korean minister of culture, sport and tourism—whose ministry is supporting the project—attended the event.
Despite a language barrier and a short timeframe for rehearsals, Pewapsconias said they were impressed by the work of the Korean artists.
The Canadian and Korean creative teams met in Korea for the first time in March and will collaborate on the project throughout the summer.
“It’s such an amazing opportunity to get to go to a whole different country and try to represent your nation. I wanted to be confident, and I wanted to be respectful, and I wanted to show the best that I could be, because that’s exactly the energy that they were giving to us,” said Pewapsconias, a Nehiyaw artist and actor from Little Pine First Nation.
The delegation also had opportunities during the visit to learn about the history of the Korean War and tour a memorial to Canadian soldiers.
“That was a very grounding moment, because we live such privileged lives here in Canada that we don’t realize how close to war or conflict that some other countries can be,” Pewapsconias said.
Thompson, who has been involved in several international collaborations, said he is always eager to give students and young artists experiences with other countries and cultures.
“I think this, regardless of discipline, creates opportunities for more rounded thinkers with more generous views of how the world works.”
Thompson felt he too was changed by the visit to Korea.
“A really curious thing to me … is that as someone who is very critical of nation-statehood of Canada while living in Canada and while 小蓝视频 an Indigenous person, I had a sense of national pride in 小蓝视频 at this event, in knowing that part of our country’s identity has been to help people resist oppressive forces,” he said. “And I think that brotherhood, unity—whatever you want to call it—is something to be proud of. That 小蓝视频 there for one another is really what the world should be about. And it was nice to be reminded of that.”
The group is currently seeking funding to enable a performance of R:LINK in Saskatoon this year.
— Submitted by USask Media Relations
