[KS] "theatrical performances" in the DPRK

[Jim Thomas]

Greetings! And Happy Chusok!
 
>Nobody believes [the two Christian Churches in Pyongyang] exist for anything other than show. Defectors (I realize not everyone believes what they say) say the people we see at those churches are basically actors placed there for our benefit. 
                                           --Don Kirk
 
> I took part in Sunday services in two of these churches and did not have the impression that these services were a theatrical 
production for foreign tourists... 
                                          --Eckart Dege
 
Accepting that, to many, Christian church services in the DPRK may at least seem like theatrical performances--and putting aside for the moment who they are aimed at--I would ask if these are fundamentally different from other theatrical performances in the North, such as those that one sees on tours of DPRK classrooms or in restaurants with karaoke?
 
In other words, is it possible that "theatrical performance" is an inherent part of the DPRK culture (as we see in Mass Game practice sessions, Worker's Party meetings, Kim Jong Il's public appearances, tours of Kim Il Sung's glass tomb, and seemingly almost every public event in the DPRK)? And this must be distinguised from "performances"  that fundamentally serve to cover up (e.g. repression or lack of religious belief)?
best,
jim 
  		 	   		  
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