The Red Chapel

Asia Pacific Premiere

A journalist with no scruples, a spastic, and a comedian travel to North Korea with a mission to challenge the conditions of the smile in one of the world’s most notorious regimes

On the pretext of being a small theater troupe on a cultural exchange visit, The Red Chapel was given permission to travel to North Korea with the objective of performing at special events for selected audiences. But in reality the small troupe had no such intentions.

Two of the troupe members, Jacob and Simon, were adopted from North Korea to Europe as infants. This is their story about confronting their biological roots, and their attempt to act
and perform in a world where humour and humanity have very poor conditions. It is also a bizarre story about the meeting between the free mind and the absolute surveillance society.

North Korea’s 23 million citizens are ruled by the iron hand of ’The Dear Leader’, General Kim Jong-il. The country has a history of starving its people, violating human rights and abusing and killing its handicapped citizens.

The title The Red Chapel is a reference to a communist spy cell that operated in Nazi Germany under the name ’Rote Kapelle’.