[News Figures] 'Marie Curie' Author Cheon Se-eun Exported to Poland

'BboBboBbo' Broadcast Writer Quits to Become Musical Writer
Wins 5 Awards at 2021 Korea Musical Awards
Gains Attention with Female-Centered Narratives Beyond Simple Protagonists

The script and music of the musical , created by a Korean creative team, will be exported to Poland. Marie Curie (1867?1934) was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. She was awarded the prize along with her husband Pierre Curie for discovering the radioactive elements polonium and radium. In 1911, she received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, becoming a two-time Nobel laureate.

Cheon Se-eun, the writer of , graduated from the Department of Creative Writing at the College of Arts, Chung-Ang University. She began her career as a script and composition writer for the educational broadcasting EBS program in 1999. Later, while gaining experience on MBC's in 2006, after watching the musical starring musical actress Choi Jung-won, she decided to become a musical writer instead of a broadcasting writer and left the broadcasting station.

Having written numerous musicals such as (My Dad is the Best) and (How to Choose a Good Dog), she established herself as a playwright by winning awards such as the 2013 Seoul Musical Festival Evergreen Fringe Popularity Award and the 2015 Korea Musical Association Creative Commission Grand Prize (Nest). In 2018, she won the New Work of the Year award for .

Writer Cheon Se-eun of Marie Curie. Photo by CJ ENM

gained popularity not just by featuring a female protagonist but by unfolding a full-fledged female-centered narrative. In the play, Marie is attacked for trying to break into the male scientist group, neglecting her roles as a wife and mother. Although she received the Nobel Prize jointly with her husband, she was treated as a mere accessory. Regarding this, writer Cheon said in an interview with , "I did not intend to write a female narrative from the start, but as I wrote, it naturally became a story about women," adding, "I looked into the life of a human being, not a glorified figure drawn from idealized materials." She also emphasized, "I wanted to tell my daughter about Marie Curie as a human being, not just as someone's wife."

Having resonated with the public, won five awards including the Grand Prize and Best Script at the 5th Korea Musical Awards in 2021. Cheon shared her thoughts, saying, "There was a question I received while preparing Marie Curie: Why tell Marie Curie's story now? I thought that the new truths discovered by Marie carry human values."

Cheon has her own habits and principles when writing scripts. In an interview with , she said, "While working on , I had sleepless nights due to the pressure," and added, "At that time, I decided to write at least one more sentence every day. On my computer, there are script files updated daily for the past three years, saved by date. Whether it was one sentence or one word, I consistently wrote and revised every day."

also plans to involve local Polish actors. On the 1st, the musical production company Live announced, "The license contract to export , which won five awards including the Grand Prize at the 2021 Korea Musical Awards, to Poland is in the final stages," and added, "Next May, local actors will premiere in Polish at the Podlaska Theater in Białystok, northeastern Poland." Previously, was officially invited to the 'Warsaw Music Festival' in Poland in July last year, where a live performance video screening and gala concert were held. It also received the highest honor, the 'Golden Watering Can Award,' chosen directly by the audience and staff.

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