[Herald Interview] Director Yossef Okay. Junghan brings viewers into theater expertise with improvisation

When a rocket scientist with obsessive-compulsive dysfunction meets a lady grieving the lack of her father, their surprising encounter blossoms into sympathy, love and shared therapeutic as they navigate their traumas. On the coronary heart of their journey is dance, which turns into a strong catalyst for his or her connection.

The 2-person romantic comedy play, “Rendezvous,” written and directed by South Korean director Yossef Okay. Junghan, kicked off in August on the LG Arts Middle in Seoul. Kim first encountered the venture as a possible movie script and was immediately captivated.

“The concept of therapeutic by dance — while not having phrases to influence or talk — fascinated me,” Kim stated in an interview with The Korea Herald in August.

“I used to be intrigued by how bodily contact might specific feelings that dialogue alone couldn’t. That’s what drew me in, and it performs an important function within the climactic scene of the play, too.”

Initially written as a movie script, the play was impressed by actress Moon Jeong-hee, who additionally stars within the theatrical manufacturing. However the plot has undergone important modifications. The unique dance was salsa, which Kim modified to contact improvisation — a type of dance the place the companions transfer collectively sharing their weight as they reply to one another.

“I consider theater is one thing you expertise. Simply as hugging somebody may be extra highly effective than saying ‘I like you,’ theater affords moments that must be felt, not simply spoken.”

This perception led Kim to stage the manufacturing in a means that brings the viewers nearer to the motion. The play unfolds on a stage like an extended, slim fencing piste, with the viewers seated alongside either side, so shut that they’ll hear the actors breathe.

The forged of doubles — that includes Park Sung-woong and Choi Received-young because the scientist Tae-seob; Moon and Park Hyo-ju as Ji-hee — stays on stage all through the 100-minute efficiency.

“I needed the viewers to really feel like they had been proper there within the second with the characters, feeling their laughter and tears,” stated Kim.

“On the first efficiency, the actors most likely felt intimidated by how shut the viewers was. However after the primary scene, they gave the impression to be comfy, as in the event that they understand the vitality from the viewers completes the efficiency. There have been moments when tears fell from each the actors and the viewers, making a shared breath, a shared emotion.”

One other explicit ingredient of the set is a big treadmill runway, which “performs with the idea of time and distance.”

“The actors can stand nonetheless, however their proximity to one another modifications. It made me take into consideration relationships: Does bodily closeness equate to emotional closeness? So the treadmill visualizes that dynamic motion of feelings.”

Within the remaining scene, the place the 2 actors dance, nothing is choreographed — it’s absolutely improvisational every evening. The lighting follows the actors in actual time, and dwell music responds to their actions, creating an ever-changing second.

Kim performs the piano every evening, additional enhancing the spontaneity. The rating was created by composer Choi Cheon-joong and Kim himself.

“It’s important {that a} character who fears change is dancing as a result of in dance, every part is variables. In the intervening time, he embraces that threat of uncertainty, and I needed the staff to comply with that, improvising for the final scene. We solely have one mounted second — to finish the scene the place the highest mild falls.”

A director/collaborator who has labored with the famend Dwelling Theatre in New York since 2009, Kim was skilled below the theater’s co-founder, Judith Malina, whom he regards as a mentor.

“She at all times directed like a conductor, absolutely concerned within the motion on stage. She was a participant, very similar to a conductor enjoying with the orchestra. That’s the strategy I’ve embraced. I see myself nearer to a conductor than a director.”

“Rendezvous” runs at LG Arts Middle till Sept. 21.

Subsequent month, Kim will participate within the Seoul premiere of “The Rosetta,” a co-production with the Dwelling Theatre, in collaboration with Playfactory Mabangzen and Yellow Bomb. The primary Dwelling Theatre manufacturing in Asia had its world premiere in Gwangju in December 2023.