Jesse Jae Hoon's ‘Saved’ explores political roots, emotional aftermath of adoption

Jesse Jae Hoon / Courtesy of JMA Photography

Though it had its premiere reading on the opposite side of the world from Korea, on a stage in New York City, Jesse Jae Hoon’s "Saved" spoke directly to the hearts of many in both countries.

Divided into two parts, the first part of "Saved," titled "The Girl and the Sky," debuted at The Public Theater in New York on April 21 as part of its Emerging Writers Group Spotlight Series. The one-night-only event offered audiences a glimpse into a bold new voice in American theater — one shaped by lived experience and a fierce commitment to truth-telling.

With nuance and emotional depth, the play explored the complexities of adoption — not merely as a legal process or an act of “saving” a child, but as a personal journey shaped by love, loss, identity and history. It served as a reminder that questions of origin and belonging are deeply human — and often entangled in geopolitical forces far beyond an individual’s control.

The story unfolds across three interwoven timelines.

In the present-day (2014), Peggy Mortimer, a Korean adoptee, grapples with personal tragedy and a painful rift with her adoptive family.

In 1948, a young girl, Jiyeon, comes of age during the Jeju Uprising — one of the most violent and traumatic episodes in modern Korean history.

Meanwhile, the Holts — American missionaries instrumental in establishing Korea’s international adoption system — confront their own decisions.

Additional characters central to the narrative included Gyeong McMillan (an adoptee Peggy befriends in Korea), Jill Mortimer (Peggy’s adoptive sister), Mi Young (Jiyeon's mother), Bora (Jiyeon's aunt) and Bradley White (another adoptee Peggy meets in Korea).

Each timeline was carefully researched, and Jae Hoon intentionally chose these specific points in history to show how seemingly small personal or policy decisions can have vast, long-lasting consequences. Though the characters are fictional, their emotional truths are real — reflecting the lived experiences of countless adoptees and families abroad and in Korea who were shaped by these systems.

The reading arrived at a pivotal moment, echoing revelations from the PBS documentary "South Korea’s Adoption Reckoning" and findings from Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which uncovered allegations of fraud, falsified records, abuse and human rights violations tied to the country’s privatized adoption system. These revelations led many adoptees to reexamine their pasts, often in search of answers they may never fully find.

In this context, "Saved Part One: The Girl and the Sky" became more than a play or a reading — it became a timely and deeply moving reflection on the personal dimensions of systemic issues. It invited audiences to consider the emotional, psychological, social and political tolls of adoption — not only on adoptees but also on the families and communities they were separated from.

A poster for the reading of "Saved" by Jesse Jae Hoon at The Public Theater / Courtesy of Jesse Jae Hoon

Jae Hoon himself is a playwright, actor and organizer, born in Korea, adopted to and raised in Chicago and Berlin, and now based in Queens. He earned his MFA in playwriting from Hunter College and BFA in drama from New York University Tisch School of the Arts. "Saved" stands as one of his most personal works to date.

Jae Hoon told The Korea Times that he began developing the script well before the release of the documentary or the TRC findings, but their emergence made the play’s themes even more urgent. While much of Jae Hoon's work is politically engaged, "Saved" marked one of the first times he directly addressed adoption, rooting its narrative in both Korean and U.S. history.

“We have a saying in the adoptee world called ‘being in the fog,’” he said — a metaphor for the possibility that many adoptees may not have fully contemplated what being adopted means.

Jae Hoon shared that he had once hesitated to write directly about adoption.

“I used to think, ‘Don’t f--- pigeonhole me, man.’”

But something shifted after reading Arissa H. Oh’s "To Save the Children of Korea: The Cold War Origins of International Adoption" and speaking with his friend Shannon Tyo — a fellow Korean adoptee, performer, writer, director and cast member of "Saved, Part One." He recalled thinking, “I’m going to use this energy to write about the adoption industry.”

That spark also became the catalyst for what Jae Hoon described as “coming out of the fog” — a term also used by adoptees to describe the process of awakening to the complexities and contradictions of adoption.

Jae Hoon also drew inspiration from sweeping, historically grounded works such as "Pachinko" and "Angels in America," "The Leftovers" and "A Song of Ice and Fire" — all of which interweave timelines to explore how political decisions ripple across time. In "Saved," he similarly blends U.S. history, Korea’s turbulent past and intimate personal narratives to illuminate the long shadow of adoption.

In the end, "Saved" offers no easy answers. Instead, it poses vital questions: What is the cost of erasure? Who has the right to define family, origin and survival? And what are the enduring emotional, psychological and cultural impacts — not just for adoptees or their birth families, but for generations to come?

Antonia Giordano is a freelance photographer and writer based in Seoul. An adoptee, Antonia deeply understands and connects with the issues surrounding adoption and post-adoption. Visit giordanoantonia.myportfolio.com and follow @antonia_creative_services on Instagram.