XXL Leotard & Anna Sui Hand Mirror
Program Information
| Genre / City | Theatre / Ansan |
|---|---|
| Dates | 3 May at 14:00, 4 May at 13:00 |
| Venue | at Shizuoka Arts Theatre |
| Duration | 90 minutes |
| Language | In Korean with Japanese subtitles |
| Seat | Reserved seating |
| Direction | JUN Inchul |
| Playwright | PARK Chan-gyu |
| Production | Theatre Company Dolpagu |
Introduction
They hide their individuality in their school uniforms. This South Korean contemporary play depicts high-school students’ small, but great, stands against conformity.
Jun-Ho, whose university entrance exam is imminent, feels happy when he wears a leotard. But he can’t tell that to anyone. His mother is always worrying about what other people think, and his girlfriend Min-Ji always expects him to be her ideal boyfriend.
Then one day, a picture of a boy in a leotard spreads online and he’s afraid he will be shunned by other students if they realize it’s him.
Since the sinking of the ferry Sewol in 2014, there has been a lot of focus on the young people in South Korea. This play was created in cooperation with Ansan City, where that tragedy’s student victims lived, and it has been staged again and again since it premiered in 2015. Along the way it has also added other social issues such as the MeToo movement, LGBTQ, and contemporary views on today’s South Korea undergoing rapid change due to the pandemic. Though it is about high-school students in that highly competitive society, this play that was a hit in London in 2022 could give people anywhere the courage to be themselves.
Synopsis
Jun-ho is finding emotional stability through wearing a woman’s leotard, and he takes a picture of himself in it that he keeps secret so his strict mother or his friends won’t see it. However, one day the picture is spread around the school by Hee-joo, a pupil who is bullied and isolated. Hee-joo wants to enter a certain university’s physical education department, and she uses the photo as her excuse to urge Jun-ho to be his dance partner for that exam. Then, although Jun-ho and Hee-joo gradually come to understand each other and cooperate together well, other students still gave them chilly looks …
Director’s profile
JUN Inchul
JUN Inchul is recognized with his signature style of detailed portraits of Korean social contextsand unconventional construction of spaces in his plays. He founded Theatre Company Dolpagu with his colleagues in 2015 and has been focusing on topics of ‘class’, ‘youth’ and ‘gender’. With its statement ‘We are All Connected’, Dolpagu is connecting ‘generation’, ‘places’ and ‘actors’ through its plays.
Recently Dolpagu majorly develop works on SF genre and by Korean new playwrights. It has been working on adapting SF novels on ‘science’, ‘space’ and ‘ageing’ into plays and produced ‘Space Theatre’ series in collaboration with Science Contents Group GALDA. The company also actively collaborate with rising Korean playwrights and produced ‘Today’s Play’ series with Sinchon Arts Space.
Cast / Staff
Direction: JUN Inchul
Playwright: PARK Chan-gyu
Cast:
OH Hea Young
YOON Mikyung
KIM Min-ha
LEE Gyuhyun
JO Eojin
AHN Byoungsik
Technical Director: CHOI Boyun
Stage Manager: HWANG Seonghyeon
Sound operator: KANG Daheon
Subtitle operator: CHO Youngah
Tour Producer: BAEK Gyohee
Production: Theatre Company Dolpagu 
<Staff>
Stage manager: HARAIKAWA Yukio
Stage: FURUYA Kazumi, YEH Chiahsing, TAKEISHI Morimasa
Lighting: HIGUCHI Masayuki, HANAWA Yuki
Sound: MAKI Daisuke, OTSUKI Minori
Wardrobe: SATO Rise
Art work: YOSHIDA Yuna
Interpretation: FUJIMOTO Harumi, KIM Seil
Subtitle translation: SHIM Jiyeon
Subtitle supervisor: SONODA Shoko
Production: KEIMI Aoi, SATO Misaki
Technical director: MURAMATSU Atsushi
Lighting manager: HIGUCHI Masayuki
Sound manager: SAWADA Yukino
Under the auspices of Korean Cultural Center, Korean Embassy in Japan
Talk
◎Pre-performance talk: Starting 25 minutes before each performance
Enjoy your festival day!
