[On Stage] Park Jiyeon of '2:22' "Creates Tension with Ghosts, but Ultimately a Story About People"

Returning as Jenny After the 2023 Premiere
"The Charm Lies in Fierce, Everyday Dialogue"
"Stage Over Screen... I Look My Best on Stage"

Actor Park Jiyeon describes herself as "someone who loves singing the most and cannot live without music." Since her debut in 2010 as Sophie in 'Mamma Mia', she has focused almost exclusively on musical theater. As of this year, her 16th year since debut, she has appeared in only three plays: Shakespeare's 'Richard III', 'Hamlet', and currently, '2:22 - A Ghost Story', which is being performed at the M Theater in the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. She returned to the stage for this play two years after its premiere in 2023.

In an interview with Asia Economy, Park Jiyeon said, "I enjoyed the premiere so much that I had no hesitation about returning for the revival."

Actor Park Jiyeon appearing as Jenny in the play '2:22'
Photo by Shin Company

As she describes, '2:22' is a compelling horror play. Park Jiyeon plays Jenny, a mother raising a newborn. For four days while her husband Sam is away on a business trip, Jenny hears the sound of a ghost in the baby's room every night at 2:22 a.m. The play concludes as the true nature of the ghost is revealed, and despite the limitations of the stage, it maintains a tense atmosphere for the audience until the very end.

Her husband Sam is extremely rational. He insists that ghosts do not exist and that all the strange occurrences in the house can be explained scientifically. Jenny, on the other hand, is afraid of the house and believes the baby is in danger, urging that they move out even at financial loss. Their friends Lauren and Ben join the debate between Jenny and Sam. As the four argue over whether ghosts exist, a variety of human personalities are revealed.

Park Jiyeon emphasized that the charm of '2:22' lies in the fact that it is ultimately a story about people.

"I think the theme of ghosts was chosen as a way to talk about people. I love the dialogue exchanged during the debates about ghosts, and in the end, it makes you reflect on people. The four characters are so distinct that I think the audience can choose one to relate to emotionally. Even within the various relationships among the characters, it ultimately becomes a story about people. It's tense, but also very funny. It's a clever and sophisticated play."

Actor Park Jiyeon appearing as Jenny in the play '2:22'
[Photo by Shin Company]

'2:22' is also Park Jiyeon's only contemporary play. The previous plays she appeared in, 'Richard III' and 'Hamlet', are both Shakespearean classics.

"While performing classics like 'Richard III', which have many monologues, I wanted to try delivering intense, everyday dialogue. I enjoy logical arguments. I'm not good at debating, but I really enjoy participating in debates. Watching the play 'Red', I was impressed by the heated debate scenes. I definitely wanted to try it. 'Red' is a play where two characters with strong convictions engage in intense dialogue, and '2:22' is similar in that four people assert and react to what they believe in, so I really wanted to do it again." 'Red' is a play about the philosophical and artistic debates between American abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko and his fictional assistant Ken, which won the Tony Award for Best Play in 2010.

Since 2015, Park Jiyeon has occasionally appeared on TV, starting with the tvN drama 'Oh My Ghost'. She had minor roles in 'Mr. Sunshine', 'The King: Eternal Monarch', and 'Hospital Playlist Season 2', and in 2022, she landed her first lead role on terrestrial TV in the KBS drama 'Bloody Heart'. For her role as Choi Gayoung in 'Bloody Heart', she won the KBS Drama Award for Best Supporting Actress, but she still insists on focusing her career on the stage rather than on-screen appearances.

"I like myself best when I'm on stage, and I think I look the coolest. I always tell my company CEO that I want to be an actor whose main focus is theater. I find performances more attractive. I have a personality that pursues stability and dislikes unpredictability, but as long as I prepare well, I'm not afraid of any variables that may arise during a performance. Although it seems like I'm repeating the same performance every day, I feel a new sense of freshness within that repetition, and that makes me very happy."

Theater performance scene of "2:22"
Photo by Shin Company

She said that stepping outside of musicals into plays feels like expanding her world as an actor. While she wants to experience various plays in the future, she still intends to keep musicals at the center of her career, because of her love for singing and music.

"Although I've reduced it now, there was a time when I filled about two bookshelves with CDs, tapes, and sheet music. Even now, I rarely listen to music on YouTube. Whatever the music, I try to listen to the entire album. I want to hear the story the album tells, rather than just individual songs."

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