Zainichi playwright lingers on stories of survival
“Sumire Hair Salon,” a play by Zainichi playwright and director Jeong Ui-sin, 69, tells the story of an ethnically Korean family living in a coal-mining town in Kyushu, Japan, in the 1960s. At the center of the story is Sumi, the second of three sisters, who dreams of opening a hair salon. A series of tragedies unfolds, including a mining accident and seizures caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.…
"Sumire Hair Salon," a play penned by Zainichi playwright and director Jeong Ui-sin, delves into the lives of an ethnically Korean family residing in a coal-mining town in Japan's Kyushu region during the 1960s. The protagonist, Sumi, the second of three sisters, harbors a dream of establishing a hair salon. Tragedy befalls the family, marked by a mining accident and carbon monoxide poisoning-induced seizures.
Despite these harrowing events, Sumi's father encourages his daughter and her husband to persevere. "Sumire Hair Salon" marks the concluding act in Jeong's "Zainichi trilogy," preceding "For Example, Like a Flower Blooming in the Field" (2007) and "Yakiniku Dragon" (2008). For the first time, the play graces Korean audiences at M Theater at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, fourteen years after its Japanese debut.
Jeong, born and raised in Himeji, Japan—a locale boasting a significant Zainichi population—has garnered acclaim for his work.
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