Mimi's Unfamiliar Outing: The Play "Mimi's Meager Romance" Spotlights a Reclusive Youth

A Female Protagonist Sets Out to Find Her Missing Boyfriend
Performance at Playmac, Mapo Art Center, June 3-7

As the government estimates that as many as 540,000 young people have experienced or are at risk of seclusion and isolation, making youth isolation a serious social issue, a new play featuring a reclusive youth living in a studio apartment neighborhood will be staged.

The Mapo Cultural Foundation announced on May 18 that from June 3 to 7, it will present the new play "Mimi's Meager Romance" by the theater group Gongnori Club at Playmac in Mapo Art Center. "Mimi's Meager Romance" is the debut work of rookie playwright Cho Min-song and tells the story of "Mimi," a 23-year-old reclusive youth living in the villa neighborhood of Changjeon-dong, Mapo-gu. The play follows Mimi as she begins working in door-to-door cosmetics sales to search for her suddenly missing boyfriend, meets people from the outside world, and ultimately confronts herself.

Gongnori Club, the Mapo Cultural Foundation’s resident company this year, is a creative group known for addressing contemporary concerns of children, teenagers, and young adults with its unique sense of humor. Last year, it won the 2025 Dong-A Theatre Award for Innovative Theatre with "Strange Children's Play - Ogamdo" and the 61st Baeksang Arts Award for Young Theatre with "Dried Chili Peppers and Peach-Scented Lipstick."

"Mimi's Meager Romance" addresses the issues of isolation and seclusion among today’s youth by weaving them into a romantic narrative, depicting the unstable realities and loneliness faced by young people living in a small, five-pyeong studio apartment.

Mimi is depicted as a person who lives off her boyfriend Giseung in his studio apartment and is obsessed with horror movies. One day, when Giseung disappears, Mimi starts door-to-door sales—a job previously held by her mother—in an effort to find him. As she knocks on the closed doors of studio apartments in Changjeon-dong and meets other young people, she ultimately reunites with her father, who abused her as a child.

The play shifts between tangled stories of romance and a family history one wants to escape, sensibly portraying Mimi's journey as she discovers her deep loneliness and moves forward alone through a desolate landscape.

Director Kang Hoon-goo said, "I wanted to truthfully yet cheerfully depict the problems of today’s youth generation in their own language," adding, "Through the message that only when you love yourself can you truly love others, I hope to offer comfort to those who have lost themselves."

The playful spirit unique to Gongnori Club, which stood out in its previous work "Dried Chili Peppers and Peach-Scented Lipstick," continues in this production. The actors change costumes in real time on stage and switch between multiple roles, swiftly creating the atmosphere of the Changjeon-dong villa neighborhood.

The cast includes Koo Do-gyun, known for his immersive performances in "Red Leaves" and "Active Volcano"; Kim Jeong-Ah, winner of the 2nd Taesang Theatre Award in 2020; Ryu Se-il, noted for his distinctive acting in "Dried Chili Peppers and Peach-Scented Lipstick"; and Park Eun-kyung, recipient of the 58th Dong-A Theatre Award Yoo Inchon New Actor Prize.

More details about the performance can be found on the Mapo Cultural Foundation’s website.

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