Busan stage tech course drew a 6-to-1 ratio

A two-day training program in Busan in 2026 drew a 6-to-1 competition ratio as young people sought field experience in stage technology. The program gave 22 young people a place in sessions covering lighting technology, sound technology and stage technology.

The training focused on how ideas imagined for a performance can be implemented on an actual stage. The musical Wicked was cited for costume changes and more than 50 scene changes, with stage direction technology linked to the immersion created by those elements.

Participants also watched a concert that used the stage-direction techniques they had studied. Park Jin-young, from Changwon National University's Department of Culture Technology, said, 'The people behind the stage and the people watching the stage are all spending time in the same space. I think that is what makes it appealing.'

Senior stage professionals shared workplace experience and information with the participants. Cho Sung-oh, lighting director at Busan Cultural Center, said, 'We also think we need to make efforts to develop personnel, and we feel a sense of duty and responsibility.'

Busan Cultural Center plans to soon run a 12-week course for professional performance-venue personnel. The center is also looking at ways to make the Yeongnam region a training hub for stage technology.