George Town Festival joins hands with Ansan Street Arts Festival (ASAF), one of South Korea’s leading outdoor performing arts festivals, for a vibrant cross-cultural exchange that transforms public spaces into stages for imagination, connection, and discovery.
Bringing together a diverse programme of street theatre, site-specific dance, physical theatre, and non-verbal performance, GTF × ASAF celebrates the power of the performing arts to transcend language and cultural boundaries. From poetic reflections on memory and identity to contemporary reinterpretations of folklore, magical family adventures, and playful encounters in unexpected places, each performance invites audiences to experience the city through fresh perspectives.
Presented in public spaces and accessible to audiences of all ages, GTF × ASAF transforms the streets of George Town into a living stage where artists and communities come together, proving that the most memorable performances often happen beyond the walls of a theatre.
An Old House
Times: 4pm & 8pm
An old house holds countless stories, much like a person’s life. As time passes, humans endure a journey of transformation, mirroring an old dwelling marked by the passage of years. Two men, confronting what has changed and what remains unaltered in their lives, strive to find themselves through the other: so alike yet different, so different yet alike. Through expressive movement and visual storytelling, the performance unfolds as a quiet meditation on change, reminding us that while every journey is unique, our shared humanity often lies in the spaces where our stories meet.
Dokkaebi’s Dream Site
Times: 4.30pm & 7.30pm
Inspired by the legendary Korean “dokkaebi” (goblin), “Dokkaebi Dream Site” is a site-specific contemporary dance performance that reimagines folklore through the lens of modern life. Once portrayed as mischievous spirits reflecting human fears and desires, the “dokkaebi” is reimagined here as symbols of a new generation navigating uncertainty, housing insecurity, and the pressures of contemporary society.
Through choreography, sound, costumes, and visual elements, the performance creates a living landscape where Korean folklore meets present-day reality. The performers embody young “dokkaebi” searching for belonging and survival within a rapidly changing society.
Blending traditional cultural narratives with contemporary movement, “Dokkaebi Dream Site” invites audiences to discover the connection between myth and modern life while reflecting on universal themes of identity, resilience, and community.
Come On Baby
Times: 5pm & 8.30pm
Inside the womb of every mother living in this era, there lies a brand-new world. And living within that world is a “Baby Engineer” who creates babies. After waiting for a long time, the Baby Engineer finally obtains a baby seed and, with the engineer’s help, brings a new life into being. Inside, this newly created life battles through various obstacles until it finally emerges into the world, where it at last meets its mother.
Come on Baby is a tabletop puppet show that depicts the protagonist’s journey through various stages of evolution, training to reach the destination, and facing diverse hardships and challenges through mime and puppetry. It delivers the complex and vibrant process of life coming into existence in an enjoyable and easy-to-understand manner for all audiences. Through this journey, the show emphasizes the significance of overcoming adversity and achieving one’s purpose.
Click Click
Time: 5.30pm & 9pm
What begins as a simple attempt to take a family photograph soon unfolds into a heartwarming journey filled with laughter, magic, and cherished memories. “Click Click” follows an elderly couple as they navigate the charming mishaps of capturing the perfect picture, revealing a touching story about love, family, and the moments that bind us together.
Presented by South Korea’s Lumos Theatre, the non-verbal performance combines magic, mask theatre, object play, physical comedy, and audience participation to create a joyful theatrical experience that transcends language. Bursting with humour, warmth, and imagination, “Click Click” invites audiences of all ages to celebrate the beauty of connection through the universal language of play.
