On the 28th at Baekseonghui Jang Minho Theater of the National Theater... This Year's Fourth 'Heegok Uchetong' Invited Work
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The National Theater Company will hold a free reading session of the original play "Ikyeon" (written by Kim Su-yeon) at 7 p.m. on the 28th at the Baek Seong-hee Jang Min-ho Theater.
"Ikyeon" is a work submitted earlier this year through the National Theater Company's online permanent submission system for original plays, called the Play Mailbox. The National Theater Company has established the Play Mailbox system to allow any playwright to submit works at any time. The Play Mailbox is based on anonymous submissions. The National Theater Company selects works from the submissions and holds reading performances attended by actors, related personnel, and audiences, followed by open discussions. Works with high potential for development are formally produced, with contracts signed with the playwrights, and staged on the National Theater Company's stage.
This year, three works were invited for reading sessions: "Tragedy of X," depicting the story of Generation X in middle age; "Three Buttons," themed on artificial intelligence (AI) in a future world; and "Nue," based on the story of Yeonsangun during King Seongjong’s era of the Joseon Dynasty.
Selected as the fourth invited work, "Ikyeon" is a piece inspired by Anton Chekhov’s "The Seagull," imagining the situation and characters following Treplev’s suicide at the end of "The Seagull." Ten actors, including Tae Hang-ho, Lee Ji-hye, Byun Yoo-jung, Lee Sang-hong, Hwang Geon, Kim So-yeon, Park Hee-jung, Han Dong-gyu, Hong A-ron, and Sung Yeo-jin, will appear on the reading session stage.
Kim Myung-hwa, the Postmaster of the Play Mailbox, stated, "Despite its extensive length of 190 minutes (including a 15-minute intermission), the work was chosen because of its ideal literary writing that contemplates long breaths and delves into the intimacy of existence and conveys it."
Playwright Kim Su-yeon, who was unveiled after the work’s selection, debuted on the theater stage in 2014 with the National Theater Company’s "Macbeth" and was also a first-season member of the National Theater Company. "Ikyeon" is an adaptation of "Chekhovian Imagination - The Seagull Act 5 Scene 1," written in 2013, and is her first full-length play. Kim Su-yeon shared the background of writing the work: "I learned that ambiguity is one of the virtues of 'The Seagull,' but a corner of my heart always held the story of 'The Seagull' and its characters as an unresolved task deeply within me. It must be because I loved it very much."
Admission tickets for the reading session are free and can be reserved in advance on a first-come, first-served basis from the 25th on the National Theater Company’s website. The reading session will be operated with a 'distanced seating system.' After the reading session, an "Artist Talk" will follow, where attendees can discuss the work with the playwright and actors.
Meanwhile, the National Theater Company also published the "2018 Play Mailbox Reading Session Play Collection," which compiles seven works introduced through reading sessions in 2018. It will be available for purchase from October at bookstores, Myeongdong Arts Theater, and the Art Shop inside the National Theater Company in Seogye-dong.
Playwrights wishing to submit to the Play Mailbox can send anonymous (or pen name), title, synopsis, and script attachments anytime throughout the year to playpost@ntck.or.kr. Submissions that reveal personal information or career details will not be accepted, so caution is advised. All submissions are read through periodic meetings throughout the year, with individual contact made. Reading sessions, productions, and play collections are all conducted in consultation with the playwright.
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