By Ines Min
This is no “Phantom of the Opera.” In fact, it’s probably everything that the French classic is not.
Veteran playwright and director Lee Hae-je brings his latest work “The Phantom of the Curtain Call” to the Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Center this Friday, for a two-week run. It will be the first play produced entirely by the Goyang Cultural Foundation.
The year is 1950, the scene: a small theater showcasing the tale of “Pandora’s Studio.” The troupe of actors — two noblewomen and a portrait artist — prepare for the final scene, when two ghosts appear out of nowhere, forcing the cast to improvise around the apparitions.
The following day, the haughty female actresses (played by Jin Kyung of “Closer” and Kim Ro-sa) refuse to act in the next performance, when the actor (Yun Jung-yul of “Jump”) shows them a favorable review from the day’s paper. Reluctantly, they continue valiantly forward, ensuing in a complex series of faux ad-libbed lines, with actors weaving back and forth between the stage reality and the audience’s.
The prolific Lee, known most recently for his hit comedy “University of Laughs,” made his name earlier this decade with plays of wit and multi-layered scenarios.
“Curtain” continues in his topical vein of human relationships, finding humor in the darkest of situations (“University,” set during the colonial period of Korean history, tracks the growth of friendship between a censor and a comedian).
“Ghost stories are like fantasies, where anything can happen,” Lee told the press following a short preview Tuesday, at the Goyang theater. “It’s a story of people, although it’s being communicated through the lips of a ghost.”
While the premise could lend itself to confusion, the drama between the terrified actors and their devotion to finish the play through curtain call results in an inevitable comedic effect.
The spirits, played by Eom Hwo-seop (“University of Laughs” and “Queen Seondeok”) and Hwang Young-hee, turn out to have been actors in their former lives and want in on the “Pandora” stage action, adding yet another layer to the show.
The emotions of each cast member is palpable, the extraordinary circumstances they find themselves in wholly plausible. While there are no accidental deaths, haunting organs or masked mysteries, “Curtain” proves to be just as captivating as that most famous of haunted theater tales.
The play will be held at the Saerasae Digital Theater through Dec. 26. Take subway line 3 to Jeongbalsan Station, exit 7 (the station connects directly to the center). Tickets start at 20,000 won. For more information, visit www.artgy.or.kr or call 1577-7766.