HERO: Drawing Show

Here in Seoul is an open run, non-verbal show called HERO. It is a show similar to NANTA!, DrumCat, and JUMP! which we have been to and reported on in the past. It is also quite a bit different. The actors are artists and they draw, paint, and sketch their work right in front of you on stage during the show. It was a fascinating performance! Bee and I were both very impressed by the whole show; arguably the best of the three we have now been too...probably because of our love for art and drawing.

There were four performers in the act. One of them started the act by painting a picture in time to a song that was playing. As the song sped up, so did his brush. The other three appeared right next to Bee's and my seats with a Polariod camera. They snapped a picture of themselves and handed the undeveloped film to Shelby and motioned for her to shake it. They then ran on stage to start their next act.

As the music played they each took paint in their hands and smeared it in an indistinguishable manner on a wood panel in front of them. They would occasionally switch panels or bump into one another to invoke comedy into their routine but at the end of the song one of them took the four panels, turned them this way or that, and placed them next to and on top of each other to form one larger panel with a now recognizable painting of Michael Jackson with part of him on each pane.

Amazing as it was, to me most amazing painting they did in their act was the watercolor they did of Ariel, the little mermaid. It looked like they took little bottles of oil-based paint and dripped different colors onto the surface of this vat of water. They would put in a few drops of this color, and some of that, and would then smear or swirl them together to produce a seascape. It was a pretty seascape with a variety of fish and aquatic plants. When they were done they took a canvas and dipped it into the water allowing the oil to cling to it. When they pulled it out the entire scene had transferred to the canvas. After they hung it on the wall one of them tore away some sort of vinyl or paper that was in place on the canvas to act as a stencil. And of course the stenciled picture was one of the little mermaid.

The whole show was fantastic. All these type of shows that Bee and I have been to have a lot of interaction with the audience, including a part where they select someone from the audience to participate with them on stage. For some reason or another they thought I would be an excellent choice for this selection.

They pulled me up on stage with them, gave me one of their hats and we did a little song and dance after which I was placed at the end of a line of two other painters facing the other end of the stage. Someone tapped me on the shoulder, showed me a picture of a circle and pointed to the other two painters standing one behind the other in front of me. He pointed again at the circle, and then back to the other painters. I really had no idea what was going on so I went and stood in front of the other two painters facing the same way they were. That was obviously not the right thing to do. I was pulled over to the man with the circle again, he traced the circle with his finger and pointed again at the other two. Still clueless I decidedly reversed the order of the two other painters by positioning the back one in front of the other and then took my place at the front. This wasn't the right thing to do either! Once again I was standing in front of the circle with it's outline being traced by the man holding the picture. Once again that same finger stretched singularly to the other two men. I scratched my hat and set to work spinning the man closest to me. After I got him spinning I advanced to the man in front of him setting him in motion also. The two of them stopped, made some circular gestures to each other, spun a couple times, another circular gesture, then the most forward one took a paintbrush and, with a roar of applause, drew a circle on the canvas he was standing next to. Ah HA!

With that there was another short song and dance and the front man moved to the back and we each advanced one spot. As I looked the other way the man behind me was shown a picture...then came another tap on the shoulder. The man behind me dramatized hitting his fist against his head then in a dizzied fashion spun one of his fingers in the air over his head. I turned to the man in front of me, tapped him on the shoulder and reenacted the scene. He then took the brush and with a questioning look, and another loud applause, drew a star on the canvas beside him.

Quick song and dance later and I found myself at the front of the line. A few outbreaks of laughter erupted from the audience and finally the tap came. I turned around. I did not receive some simple demonstration of what to draw; the man behind me put both fists over his eyes and extended his fingers out, then he put both hands at the sides of his head like rabbit ears, with his hands he then drew a giant bulge over his belly, and closed it all up with lifting one leg off the ground in front of him while extending his arms in opposite directions. He then handed me the paintbrush and pointed to the empty canvas. Uhhh...? Maybe a bunny? I had no idea what to draw but because of the ears I though up a very rough outline of a rabbit. As I did so I noticed that the paint I was using was not sticking to parts of the canvas. The actors encouraged me to keep painting and as I scribbled paint across the rest of the canvas a picture of Kung Fu Panda appeared where the paint was not sticking.

Everyone applauded, they thanked me, gave me a shirt and escorted me off the stage. I almost got all the way back to me seat with the hat but they wouldn't let me keep it. Bee was rolling in laughter when I got back to my seat. She thought it was the most hilarious thing she had ever seen. It was fun to get up there and make a fool of myself, I seem to be pretty proficient at it.

It was a great show and Bee and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in seeing a show in Seoul.