[On Stage] "Reflecting on What I Must Let Go to Live Authentically"

'Hope: The Unread Book and the Unlived Life' Hope role Kim Sun-young · K role Jo Hyung-kyun

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] Franz Kafka (1883?1924), the Jewish novelist famous for "The Metamorphosis," died prematurely at the age of 40. Before his death, he asked his friend Max Brod (1884?1965) to burn all his unpublished manuscripts. Brod did not follow Kafka's will. He preserved the manuscripts and published some of them after World War II ended. Thanks to this, Kafka's novels, which might have been buried forever, became known to the world.

After Brod's death, the manuscripts were passed to Esther Hoffe (1906?2007), a Jewish woman who was his secretary, and then to Hoffe's daughter Eva Hoffe (1933?2018). In 2008, the National Library of Israel filed a lawsuit against Eva Hoffe demanding the return of Kafka's unpublished works.

The original musical "Hope: The Unread Book and the Unread Life" was inspired by the Kafka manuscript return lawsuit. It premiered last year and will begin its revival on the 19th at Doosan Art Center Yeongang Hall.

Actor Kim Sun-young, who played the role of 'Hope'
Photo by R&D Works

Musical actors Kim Sun-young (46) and Jo Hyung-kyun (36) will reprise their roles as Hoffe and K, respectively, following last year's premiere. Both actors jointly won the Best Lead Actor award at the 4th Korean Musical Awards this year.

Because it deals with a courtroom dispute, the stage of "Hope" is not as flashy as typical musicals. There is no passionate romance that the public usually enjoys. However, "Hope" was a hit during its premiere and won the grand prize, the highest honor, at the 4th Korean Musical Awards.

Jo Hyung-kyun said, "The characters are special, and the audience is deeply moved by the message conveyed through the characters' lives."

The protagonist Hoffe is a 78-year-old old woman. She is a stubborn character who has given up everything else and has devoted her life to protecting the manuscripts as if they were her life. People around her even call her a "crazy woman." The male lead, K, is the personification of the manuscript that Hoffe has guarded as if it were her life. The character is anthropomorphized. In reality, K symbolizes the protagonists in Kafka's novels. Kafka used the name K for the main characters in many of his stories.

The play ends with Hoffe returning the manuscripts and going back home. By letting go of the manuscripts, which she considered her entire life and was obsessed with, Hoffe paradoxically finds a new life. It shows her finding new hope and self at the age of 78.

Kim Sun-young described "Hope" as a work that makes one reflect on life. "Everyone lives with something they think they must never lose because of anxiety and hardship. It could be a person, money, an object, or some kind of relationship. I also wonder if I, like Hoffe, have been clinging to something anxiously and stubbornly throughout my life. Reflecting on my life through the lives of characters in a work may sound common, but there are not many works like that."

Jo Hyung-kyun also said, "It makes me reflect a lot on what I am holding onto in life and what I need to let go of if I want to live truly as myself."

Actor Jo Hyung-kyun, who plays the role of 'Kay' [Photo by R&D Works]

In the play, K constantly circles around Hoffe and talks to her. However, K is invisible to everyone except Hoffe. To the audience, it appears as if Hoffe and K are having a conversation. But to the actors on stage, Hoffe is just a person talking to herself like someone with schizophrenia.

Jo Hyung-kyun explained that K is a being derived from Hoffe. "Since K comes from Hoffe's life, you can think of K as Hoffe. K listens to Hoffe's story and represents what Hoffe really wants to say. For example, in the scene where Hoffe says she doesn't want to go to court, K says, 'Let's go.' Hoffe says 'I don't want to go,' but on the other hand, she wants to go."

In the final part of the play, K is also the one who advises Hoffe to let go of her obsession with the manuscripts and find her own life.

Jo Hyung-kyun participated in the development process of the work even before the premiere. His attachment to the work is naturally strong. "Since it is an anthropomorphized character, it was initially awkward. But as an actor, you naturally become attached to a creative work because you are coloring the character from scratch."

Kim Sun-young, who debuted in 1999, met "Hope" at the point when she had been acting for 20 years. "It is a work that has a special meaning because it received a lot of love at a time when I was passing the 20-year mark in my acting career. I hope it continues to be performed. Fortunately, since the role is of a 78-year-old, as long as I am healthy and my voice holds up, I think I can show a deeper Hoffe each season."

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