'Gwangjang' Choi In-hoon's Cruel Sim Cheong Story 'Dara Dara Bright Moon'

The Second Work of the 'Choi In-hoon Theater Series' at Arko Arts Theater from May 5 to 10

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Choi In-hoon, the author of 'The Square (1960)', is widely known as a novelist, but he had a special attachment to plays. Before his passing, the writer once said, "I want to be remembered forever as a playwright rather than as a novelist." Choi In-hoon left behind six plays in his lifetime.

Among them, the play 'Dara Dara Bright Moon' will be performed by the theater company 'Gongyeon Jejak Center' from May 5 to 10 at the Arko Arts Theater Grand Theater in Daehangno, Seoul.

Earlier this year, Gongyeon Jejak Center planned the 'Choi In-hoon Theater Series' and staged 'Once Upon a Time, Hwoeui Hwoeui' as the first work from January 30 to February 2 at the Mary Hall Grand Theater of Sogang University in Mapo-gu. 'Dara Dara Bright Moon' is the second work in the Choi In-hoon Theater Series and an invited piece for the 41st Seoul Theater Festival.

'Dara Dara Bright Moon' is a newly created play inspired by 'Simcheong,' but instead of focusing on Simcheong's filial piety or the value of retribution, it reveals a cold reality. No mercy or salvation is given to Simcheong; instead, she suffers violence and exploitation. After being sold to a boatman, Simcheong endures prostitution, rape, exploitation, and the chaos of war, aging as a prostitute. As she grows old, she becomes blind and mentally confused. The old and blind Simcheong wanders the streets. To children who mock her, she tells a cruel 'Dragon Palace fairy tale' she has fabricated. The Dragon Palace is a brothel where Simcheong experienced the suffering of prostitution and rape.

'Dara Dara Bright Moon' borrows only the motif of 'three hundred sacks of rice as a tribute' from 'The Story of Simcheong,' while most of the play was newly created by Choi In-hoon.

In the 1970s, Choi In-hoon, who had almost stopped writing novels, began writing plays. He confessed that while writing novels, he never reached the peak as an artist, but through writing plays, he finally felt the exhilaration of leaving Earth and soaring into space.

Gongyeon Jejak Center plans to stage the third work in the Choi In-hoon Theater Series, 'When Spring Comes to the Mountains and Fields,' this November.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.