By Chung Ah-young
Staff reporter
French author Bernard Werber's play ``Our Friends, the Humans (Nos Amis les Humains)'' will go on stage in July in Seoul for the first time.
The drama is the only play written by Werber, one of the most beloved French writers by Korean readers, who penned numerous novels such as ``The Ants,'' ``The Breath of Gods'' and ``Paradise.'' The Korean adaptation of the French play is much anticipated.
``Our Friends, the Humans'' was first published in October in 2003 in France, selling 250,000 copies. The play premiered at Comedie Bastille in Paris on Sept. 9 in 2004 and then it was staged in Switzerland, Czech Republic and Russia.
The play was translated into Korean by Open Books, a local publisher, in 2004 and drew a great deal of attention from theater critics for its powerful text.
This year, the Papa Production gained a license to put on the play for the first time in Asia and has received support from the Seoul Culture Foundation.
The play revolves around Raoul, a scientist and Samantha, an animal trainer who are trapped in a glass room, exploring human nature through the perspective of an outsider with the author's imagination and humor.
Werber was quoted as saying ``the expression of actors are simple and humorous but the play can create more complicated ideas and thoughts through them. The most important thing is the idea, thus if it is respected, I don't mind that the play will be transformed to suit the tastes of the Korean audiences.''
The play will be on stage from July 3 to Aug. 29 at Theater Blue of Chungmu Art Hall in Seoul. Tickets cost 30,000 won. For more information, call (02) 747-2070/2090.