Korean Gentry Comically, Tragically Fades Away in ‘Cherry Orchard’ Remake

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Expats and tourists rarely get a chance to see an innovative, culturally insightful play performed live in Korean with legible English subtitles. Fortunately -- at least for a short time -- there is one good option.

Director Im Do-Wan has brought Anton Chekhov’s classic “The Cherry Orchard” into the digital age and fused it with a uniquely Korean spirit. With 14 talented actors, 12 long benches, and period-perfect costumes, he takes viewers back to a once-grand Andong estate being rocked by social tremors just before the Korean War.  

The dramatic comedy centers on Madame Kwon Yun-Ae. After failing to escape the sorrow of family deaths by fleeing to Tokyo, she heads back to a fully liberated Korea and the unforeseen reality of a life lived on borrowed time. Ignoring advice on how to reverse the family’s fortunes, the proud Kwons and most of their dysfunctional household prefer to lead a life of leisure, separated from all things tacky, smelly and uncouth by increasingly thin walls.

“Each character occupies his or her own space and is often incapable of fully seeing the other,” co- director Soo Lee said. That is why dialogues often occur between people outside the other’s line of sight. The intention, she explained, is to bring the subtext to the forefront. Intelligible conversations occur – as they do in the real world between those from vastly different backgrounds – but the approach lets the audience analyze each participant in the way 3D modelers let computer users pick up a stationary object and rotate it for a better view.

Unfortunately, the humorous mix of rural Korean accents and Japanese will be lost on non-Korean speakers but the English materials make the plot and most of the jokes easy to follow, provided you arrive early enough to read the playbill. The play is nearly two-hours long with no intermission, but the plot builds quickly and stays fast paced to the end. It runs daily until March 14, except Mondays, at the Arko Arts Theater in Daehangno.

For more details, including how to get free tickets and up to 40% discount on tickets, see the announcement in What's Going On.

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