[On Stage] 'Beotkkotdongsan' Jeon Do-yeon "Long Thirst for Acting... Theater Is Anxious but Enjoyable"

First Theater Appearance in 27 Years... Playing 'Song Do-young' in Cherry Blossom Hill
Acting Thirst Since Around the Time of the Movie 'The Way Home'

"They forgot me... Life has just slipped away, it feels like I never really lived... Nothing is left..." (Chekhov Play Collection, Eulyu Publishing)

This is the final line of the old butler Pirs from the play The Cherry Orchard by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov (1860?1904). The noble family Pirs served all his life has fallen into ruin. The family loses the estate that had been in their possession for generations to the son of a former tenant farmer and leaves the house. They forget even the butler who had faithfully served them... Left alone in the house, Pirs utters a soliloquy expressing the futility and loneliness of life, bringing the play The Cherry Orchard to a close.

Actress Jeon Do-yeon mentioned this passage as one that stayed with her deeply while reading Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard.

In an interview on the 11th at LG Arts Center Seoul, Jeon Do-yeon said, "The character that left the strongest impression when I read the play was the elderly butler. When everyone else had left, that old butler closes the door of the house, and that character really stayed with me. The elderly butler is a very symbolic figure. Just as the house is dying, so too is the butler."

[Photo by Studio AL, LG Art Center]

Jeon Do-yeon is starring in the play The Cherry Orchard, which runs until July 7 at LG Arts Center Seoul. The world-renowned director Simon Stone adapted Chekhov’s play to a contemporary Korean social setting.

Chekhov’s original is set in late 19th-century Russia, after the 1861 Emancipation Reform, during the decline of the aristocratic society. In Stone’s adaptation, the original aristocrats become modern Korean chaebols, and the son of the former tenant farmer who becomes the new owner of the estate is changed to the son of a chaebol family’s chauffeur. Jeon Do-yeon plays Song Do-young, the daughter of the chaebol family. Park Hae-soo plays Hwang Doo-sik, the chauffeur’s son.

Stone is known for his bold reinterpretations of classic works. Jeon Do-yeon said, "It feels like a completely different work except for the title The Cherry Orchard."

The final scene also differs from the original. Like Pirs, an elderly character utters a nihilistic soliloquy. But after the soliloquy ends, the new owner of the house, Hwang Doo-sik, appears and shouts to demolish the house, declaring that a new era is coming, ending the play.

Jeon Do-yeon said, "The actors asked director Simon what the new era means, but he didn’t give an answer. I think even Simon doesn’t know. It seems the idea of the new era is left to the audience’s interpretation." She added, "As a mother, I hope children will live in a better world than we do now. I hope the air will be cleaner so they can breathe freely."

The Cherry Orchard marks Jeon Do-yeon’s return to the theater after 27 years. She last appeared on stage in 1997 in Taming of the Shrew. Around 2013, when she was acting in the film The Way Home, she said she had been contemplating her acting for a long time.

"Although K-content has become widely known worldwide, I felt it was becoming increasingly confined to certain genres, and diverse works were not emerging, so I felt quite thirsty for something new. I spent a long time thinking about what I could do within that."

Then, in November last year, LG Arts Center suggested she watch the play Medea directed by Stone, which she saw on video. Medea is a villainess from Greek mythology who kills her own son after being betrayed by her beloved. Stone reinterpreted the story as a woman who loses her sanity and commits horrific acts after her doctor husband’s infidelity, creating a strong impact.

Jeon Do-yeon said, "I wanted to pour out something that was inside me, and the moment I saw the actress in Stone’s Medea, I felt that. I envied the actress in Medea so much. Also, I found the original The Cherry Orchard play boring, so I was curious how Stone would reinterpret this classic."

[Photo by Studio AL, LG Art Center]

Thus, Jeon Do-yeon decided to return to the stage after 27 years. The Cherry Orchard opened on the 4th and has completed seven performances. She said she is still adapting to the unfamiliar theater stage.

"I think I will be in the process of adapting until the end of the run. I don’t think I will ever get fully used to the stage. Because it’s unfamiliar, I feel anxious and tense, but I’m gradually learning to enjoy those feelings."

Still, she said, "I’m not sure if my thirst for acting has been quenched, but when I act on stage with the other actors, it’s very enjoyable. I’m not yet at the point of fully enjoying the stage, but if I can feel joy in being able to freely express and act, I hope there will be broader choices for me in the future."