Two Stages of Faith in December: Musical The Screwtape Letters · Korea National Choir Handel’s Messiah
December in Seoul always arrives with familiar lights, yet beneath that brightness a quiet question rises every year: What are we waiting for? And how are we living in the midst of that waiting?
The final [view.log] of the year turns to two very different stages that offer two different answers. One reveals the unseen spiritual conflict waged within the human soul, and the other proclaims, in the grandest musical language, the victory of the Light who entered the darkness. These are Seoul’s December stages—The Screwtape Letters and Handel’s Messiah.
1. A Winter Night in Bukchon: A Whisper to the Soul
C.S. Lewis’s classic <The Screwtape Letters> exposes the subtle, intimate terrain of spiritual warfare through the ironic lens of an “instruction manual from a demon.” The musical adaptation brings the tension of its epistolary form to the stage, unfolding Screwtape’s sinister counsel to his nephew in a rhythm that is chilling and strangely captivating.
Walking through Bukchon’s quiet winter alleys and stepping into Narae Hall feels like entering a small theater designed to examine the human heart. There is no excessive spectacle—only restrained lighting, concentrated acting, and words that seem to fall directly into the center of the viewer’s inner life.
This work does not merely describe “the strategy of evil.” It reveals how faith is weakened, how our gaze drifts, and how easily the soul bends through the smallest decisions of ordinary life.
John Calvin once described the human heart as “a perpetual factory of idols.” This musical confronts that truth without hesitation. It reminds us that faith is sustained not by grand resolutions but by small obediences formed in unseen moments—a truth this December stage makes difficult to ignore.
◈ Performance Information
- Venue: Bukchon Narae Hall
- Showtimes: Friday 7:00 PM / Saturday & Holidays 1:00 PM, 3:30 PM
- Admission: Regular 60,000 KRW / Discounted (Employees, Students, SNS, Families of 3+): 39,000 KRW
2. An Eternal Declaration at Seoul Arts Center
“For unto us a Child is born.”
The opening words of Isaiah echo through <Handel’s Messiah>, a work that is far more than an oratorio. It is a yearly confession of the Christian faith, sung across the world every December — a musical proclamation of the gospel itself.
The Korea National Choir’s presentation this year promises not simply grandeur, but a deepened clarity of the message at its core. Structured through the Trinitarian flow of redemptive history, the three parts move from the Light who enters the darkness, to the obedience of the Cross, to the triumph of the Resurrection — not merely as music, but as proclamation.
As Christmas approaches, we often prepare the “season” while losing sight of the joy that defines it. But when the familiar chorus of Messiah begins, the city’s noise and our own hurried hearts fall silent. “Hallelujah!” This exclamation is the musical climax of the oratorio, and yet it is also a confession we are called to make anew in 2025.
◈ Concert Information
- Venue: Seoul Arts Center, Concert Hall
- Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2025 — 7:30 PM
- Admission: R 70,000 KRW / S 50,000 KRW / A 30,000 KRW
A December to Remember the Source of Joy
《The Screwtape Letters》 shows us the battle within, while 《Messiah》 reminds us of the victory already won. One provokes vigilance, the other lifts us in praise. As you walk through Seoul in December, these two works — so different in form, yet united in purpose — leave us with the same enduring question:
Where is your gaze fixed?
At the close of the year, may these stages help us turn again toward the Light, and rediscover the joy, the hope, and the faith that sustain us.
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faith.log
A journal that connects faith and everyday life. In each small piece of writing, we share the grace of God and the depth of life together.
