Manhwa/webtoon information and links

Historical images of the all female theatre troupe 여성국극 (Yeoseong Gukgeuk)

"According to the Rockbund Art Museum, Yeoseong Gukgeuk is a theatrical performance that combines singing and dancing. Its main themes revolve around war and romance accompanied by the melancholic beats of the barrel-shaped drum called buk. What differentiates it from other Korean operas is its all-women ensemble that portrays the characters through the subversion of typical heteronormative roles as it somewhat resembles Western drag."

"Yeoseong Gukgeuk that started at the end of the 1940s is a similar type of the Korean traditional operas that declined after its popularity peaking during the 1950s through 1960s. It is a Genre where singing (唱) and dancing (舞) are combined and contains remaking stories of popular myths or novels based on Korean traditional music, Pansori. Yeoseong Gukgeuk obviously appropriates the characters who perform conventional gender role and their typical melodrama, however, it has a significantly, uniquely subversive style what only women player can perform all of characters. Even though Yeoseong Gukgeuk has such a very short history and only few historical documentations, it has achieved totally new modern formation of theatre as much as radical sexual politics in particular period of Korean modernization. So far, Yeoseong Gukgeuk has been studied and analyzed based on only some interviews with several performers who is still alive as a first generation, and some faded personal photos."

sources (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14) [links contain info about 여성국극]

images below from Yeoseong Gukgeuk Project 2008-present by siren eun young jung

If anyone is interested in receiving-buying physical copies - it is sold & shipped by harumio.

https://www.harum.io/products/retirement-age-manhwa?_pos=1&_psq=retirem&_ss=e&_v=1.0