Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Snappier side of Chekhov
Actress Park Jung-ja plays Vasili Svietlovidoff in Anton Chekhov’s “Swan Song,” which is staged as part of “14 in Chekhov” at Project Box Seeya in Seoul through July 7. / Courtesy of Project Box Seeya
By Kwon Mee-yoo
A group of veteran actors present Russian playwright's lesser-known one-act plays
By Kwon Mee-yoo
There is more to Anton Chekhov than “The Seagull,” “The Cherry Orchard” and “Uncle Vanya.” This is what a group of Korean actors are trying to illustrate as they stage the lesser-known one-act plays of the Russian playwright that are as witty, thoughtful and biting as his longer ones.
The “14 in Chekhov” performance at the Project Box Seeya theater in Dongbinggo-dong, Seoul, brings together 14 veteran actors performing the Chekhov plays of “On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco,” “Swan Song,” “A Marriage Proposal,” “The Bear,” and “Misery.”
Directing the plays is Oh Kyung-taek, who previously staged Chekhov works such as “The Seagull,” “The Cherry Orchard” and “Three Sisters.”
“Chekhov was a playwright who had a brilliant insight on life and delivered this with sympathy. His works warmly embrace readers or audiences. I hope to stage all of Chekhov’s plays someday,” he said.
“Chekhov’s one-act plays are not often performed professionally because they are too short. I was excited about this opportunity to introduce Chekhov’s one-act plays to a Korean audience.”
Each play represents a different form. “On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco” is a one-man play, while “Swan Song” and “Misery” are two-man plays. “The Bear” and “A Marriage Proposal” are three-hander “vaudeville” acts, referring to a series of unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill.
Similar to Chekhov’s more famous plays, these works manage to incorporate every aspect of our world — life, death, hope, disappointment, victories, defeats, love and hate — delivered with poignancy or humor.
It would be worthy to call “Swan Song,” featuring 71-year-old veteran actress Park Jung-ja, as the highlight of the performance. Park plays the role of an old comedy actor called Vasili Svietlovidoff, who finds herself the butt of the joke of her own disappointing life. In conveying a complexity of emotions rooted in suppressed anger and a sense of powerlessness, it seemed as times Park wasn’t really acting, but reflecting her own life as a thespian.
“Tobacco,” a piece about a man feeling emasculated by his tough-talking wife, is ironic, while “Misery,” a story of a father mourning his dead son, is disheartening. “The Bear” and “A Marriage Proposal” are light-hearted works peppered with social commentary.
Three of the five shows are performed each day and the exact schedule is available at the online reservation site ticket.interpark.com.
The “14 in Chekhov” performance will run through July 7 at Project Box Seeya and then it will transfer to Daehangno Arts Theater as a part of Daehangno Comedy Festival from Aug. 17 to 22. Tickets cost 30,000 won. For more information, call (02) 766-6007.