The Martyred Goes on Stage
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
``The Martyred,'' based on a novel written by Korean-American author Richard Kim, went on stage Wednesday at Sejong M Theater in central Seoul.
The play will mark the 100th anniversary of Korean contemporary theater and the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts' opening.
``The Martyred'' was first published as a novel in 1964, receiving spotlight in the United States. Kim, a Korean-born writer, was the first Korean author to be nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969, becoming one of the best-known Koreans in the West.
The novel was the best-selling book for 20 straight weeks in the United States, and has been translated into more than 10 languages.
The play sheds light on human nature, conflict between truth and hypocrisy, touching universal values of mankind.
Set in Pyongyang during the Korean War, ``The Martyred'' reflects on the human conscience, the meanings of evil, suffering and truth. The story follows the investigations on the deaths of 12 Christian ministers reportedly killed by the Communists.
The New York Times reviewer praised ``The Martyred,'' which burst upon the American literary landscape in 1964 as ``a magnificent achievement,'' written in ``the great moral and psychological tradition of Job, Dostoyevsky and Albert Camus.''
Kim also wrote ``The Innocent'' (1968), ``Lost Names'' (1970) and many other works. He is a Guggenheim Fellow (1965) and was a recipient of a Fulbright grant. His most popular piece is ``Lost Names.''
``The Martyred'' was first made into a play in the Korean theater in 1964. It was re-created as a film in 1965 and also into opera renditions several times later on.
Kim was born in Hamheung, North Korea in 1932 as the grandson of a Christian minister and the son of a landowner. Kim then moved to the south with his family before the Korean War. He was studying at Seoul National University when the war broke out. He went to the United States in 1954 to study at Middlebury College.
The play will run through June 1. Tickets cost 25,000 won. For more information, call (02) 399-5005.