Han Kang's 'We Do Not Part' finds intimate voice on Seoul stage
On a stage stripped of almost everything but white, actors Isabelle Huppert and Lee Hye-young summoned a snowbound island. There were no trees, no hospital bed and no visible parrot to rescue. Yet as the French and Korean actors read from Han Kang’s novel, their voices and languages supplied the scenery: severed fingers ache and snow gathering around an unseen house. “Oiseau,” a bilingual reading…
Isabelle Huppert and Lee Hye-young inhabited a barren, white stage, bringing Han Kang's novel "We Do Not Part" to life. Though no scenery was present, their voices and languages painted the picture: twigs snapping and snow accumulating around an unseen house. The bilingual play, an adaptation of Kang's Nobel Prize-winning work, debuted in Seoul on Saturday, marking the two-year anniversary of Kang's literary accolade.
Known as "Han Kang Day," this date is celebrated by Korean literature enthusiasts. The production, part of the Seoul Performing Arts Festival, moved from the expansive Avignon Festival to a smaller 500-seat indoor theater. In the French-language version, Huppert portrayed Kyung-ha, while Lee Hye-young took on the role in Korean. The intimate setting emphasized the play's profound, personal themes.
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- Han Kang's 'We Do Not Part' finds intimate voice on Seoul stage koreatimes.co.kr
