MAGO SOUND Moves from The Intern Soundtrack to a Street Puppet Parade at Guro Market

The sight of an elderly woman dozing against a market stall is familiar to everyone. Sometimes, you wonder what years of memories might pass through her mind during that brief nap.

This fall, audiences will be able to step into that dream at Guro Market in Seoul. MAGO SOUND, a music collective that contributed to the music for the film 〈The Intern〉, served as music director and composer for the street-parade puppet show 〈Mr. Gadan Shares His Good Fortune〉. The show will be performed four times over two days, Oct. 24 and 25. Admission is free.

MAGO SOUND Goes from The Intern Soundtrack to Music Direction for a Street Performance

MAGO SOUND is a group featuring vocalist Mago, handpan player Zion, synthesizer player Song Su-jeong and percussionist Cho Jeong-uk. The group has continued to create work that brings together music, meditation, movement and space.

Vocalist Mago first came to public attention in 2003 as the voice behind 〈Premonition〉, a track on the soundtrack to the film 〈My Tutor Friend〉. This year, she returned to film music after more than 20 years, contributing to the Korean version of 〈The Intern〉 with MAGO SOUND. Directed by Kim Do-young and starring Choi Min-sik and Han So-hee, the film opened Sept. 16. Now, barely a month later, the sound that filled the screen is making its way into the market alleys.

Guro Market Becomes the Stage for Mr. Gadan Shares His Good Fortune

A Dream Journey with Grandma Gadan and Her Dog, Ppoppi

〈Mr. Gadan Shares His Good Fortune〉 is a community arts project presented by Sungkyunkwan University’s RISE Project Group and the Korean Puppetry Association, and produced by Imagine Club, a puppetry company. The story begins in a dream shared by Grandma Gadan, who has fallen asleep at her market stall, and her dog, Ppoppi.

Memories of childhood games, beautiful moments and years gone by unfold one by one, like pages in a faded photo album. The show ends when Gadan awakens from a long dream and shares good fortune with those around her. There are no heroes or dramatic events. Its quiet portrait of one person’s life—the kind of life found all around us—is what makes it so compelling.

An Interactive Street Performance with No Audience Seating

The absence of a fixed stage and audience seating also stands out. Oversized puppets, performers and audience members move together through the market alleys, with spectators naturally joining in the play and parade. The everyday scene of vendors and shoppers passing by becomes part of the performance.

The production company, Imagine Club, has built its work around oversized puppet-making and puppeteering. The group has created original nonverbal puppet theater, including 〈Little Dobi and the White Ox〉, and continues to bring audiences together through street parades and interactive arts projects in everyday spaces beyond the theater.

A Wordless Puppet Show Lets Music Tell the Story

There is no dialogue in this production. The puppets’ movements, images and music take its place. MAGO SOUND said it uses music to connect Gadan’s childhood, memories and the boundary between dreams and reality, while shaping the overall flow of the show around scene changes, audience movement and the parade’s rhythm. In some scenes, the music follows the puppets; in others, it leads the way, setting the emotional direction.

Mago, MAGO SOUND’s lead, said that because there is no dialogue, the music has a lot to convey, but “it’s also important not to say too much.” The aim, she explained, is for the music to linger between Gadan’s memories and the puppets’ movements, leaving room for audiences to encounter their own memories and emotions.

The idea of music that holds back its words stayed with me. Treating the spaces between sounds as precious is much like what meditation teaches.

A Sensibility Shaped by Wellness Music and Silent Live

This project connects with the path MAGO SOUND has followed. The group has brought meditation and wellness music into Silent Live performances, where audiences wear wireless headphones and listen to live music. Even as they gather in the same space, each person is drawn inward.

Now, the group’s exploration of how music, space and the audience’s senses connect moves into an everyday setting: the market. It will be interesting to hear how sounds honed in the quiet of headphones take on a different texture amid the bustle of stalls and alleys.

A Healing Performance Close to Everyday Life

You don’t have to travel far to find a moment of rest. Walking alongside a puppet on your way to shop and listening to the same music as a neighbor you’ve never met can offer comfort, too.

The good fortune Gadan offers is unlikely to be an extravagant gift. A single memory—a grandmother’s face you haven’t thought of in a while, or an alley where you played as a child—may be enough. On the fourth weekend of October, you might find some of that good fortune at Guro Market.

Performance Information