Huppert and Lee Hye-young read Han Kang: SPAF's Oiseau on sale today at 2pm

Key points

• Oiseau, a staged reading of the first chapter of Han Kang's novel We Do Not Part, plays as an invited production of the 2026 Seoul Performing Arts Festival (SPAF) at 7.30pm on Saturday 10 October and 5pm on Sunday 11 October in the main auditorium of Sogang University Mary Hall — two performances only.
• The French actor Isabelle Huppert and the Korean actor Lee Hye-young read the same text in French and in Korean. Julie Deliquet directs; the Festival d'Avignon produces.
• Tickets go on sale for the first time at 2pm on Friday 11 September. All seats are 70,000 won, admission is for ages 16 and over, and the running time is 90 minutes. Korean, French and English surtitles are provided.

One of the last productions at this year's SPAF to open its booking window goes on sale at 2pm today: the staged reading Oiseau. It was absent from the list of works covered by the early-bird on-sale of 14 August and the general on-sale of 21 August. The ticketing page on the festival's own site explains that a second on-sale would follow in September for premieres and a few other productions, and names Oiseau first among them; the NOL Ticket product page gives the time as 2pm on 11 September.

The source is Han Kang's novel We Do Not Part. What reaches the stage is its first chapter, Bird, the passage that turns towards the Jeju 4·3 massacre. On a snowy winter morning Kyungha is asked by her friend Inseon, in hospital, to look after a white budgerigar left alone at her house, and sets off for Jeju through a blizzard. A journey to save one bird runs on into the time of 4·3 by way of Inseon's family's memory — that is the synopsis the festival gives.

The chapter was adapted as a reading by the French director Julie Deliquet. Two actors take the stage: Isabelle Huppert and Lee Hye-young. Each reads the same sentences, one in French and one in Korean, which is why the festival sums the piece up as two languages, two presences, one text. Because the languages overlap on stage, Korean, French and English surtitles are all provided in the house.

The production is by the Festival d'Avignon, where it premiered this year. The Seoul performances are a collaboration with SPAF, with the French newspaper Le Monde as a performance partner. Han Kang is credited for the text; the French translation is by Choi Kyun-ran and Pierre Bisiou and the English by Lee Ye-won and Paige Aniyah Morris. Anabelle Simon is credited with dramaturgy and artistic collaboration, Viara Stefanova with lighting, Luca Lelièvre with sound, and Sylvie Cailler and Jocelyne Milazzo with make-up and hair — a creative team drawn almost entirely from France.

The venue explains why there are only two performances. In the KOPIS venue record, Sogang University Mary Hall is a private theatre with a 428-seat main auditorium and a 100-seat studio. Even sold out, the two performances hold 856 people between them. The same theatre also hosts SPAF's Modeun Company: Ssireum on 14 and 15 October.

Tickets are a single grade at 70,000 won, with discounts of 40% for young people, 30% for artists and 20% for foreign nationals. Admission is for ages 16 and over, high-school age and above. The festival's own site gives the running time as 90 minutes — though the product information on the booking page says 50 minutes, so the two official sources disagree and it is worth checking whether the notice has been updated before booking. The Korea Arts Management Service and the National Theater of Korea present, with the Korea Arts Management Service as organiser.

The 2026 SPAF programme runs 16 productions from 8 October, opening with Tiago Rodrigues's The Distance Between, to 25 October. Other works in the same second on-sale include Hwang Su-hyun's Hehehistory, 0set Project's Welcome_2026 and the Asian Playwrights Project readings. As of 11 September 2026 Oiseau is not registered in the KOPIS performance database. Productions in this year's line-up playing Arko Arts Theater, the National Theater and Theater Quad are already registered, which leaves this one the only booking information sitting outside KOPIS.

Performance details

Ticket prices

When do Oiseau tickets go on sale?

For the first time at 2pm on Friday 11 September. The production was not part of the early-bird on-sale on 14 August or the general on-sale on 21 August, and is the first work in the festival's September second on-sale for premieres.

When and where is the performance?

At 7.30pm on Saturday 10 October and 5pm on Sunday 11 October 2026, in the main auditorium of Sogang University Mary Hall in Mapo-gu, Seoul.

How much are tickets?

One grade, 70,000 won for every seat, with discounts of 40% for young people, 30% for artists and 20% for foreign nationals.

What is the minimum age?

Ages 16 and over, high-school age and above.

Can I follow it without Korean?

Isabelle Huppert reads in French and Lee Hye-young in Korean, and Korean, French and English surtitles are all provided in the house.

Is the running time 90 minutes or 50?

The festival's official site says 90 minutes while the product information on NOL Ticket says 50, so the two official sources disagree. It is worth checking whether the notice has been updated before booking.