Myung-Wha Kim is an acclaimed Korean playwright, critic, and director. This book marks the first translated play collection by a female Korean playwright and captures her individual style and powerful drama.
The four plays in this collection are translated into English by Walter Byongsok Chon, in collaboration with English language consultant Anne M. Hamilton.
Birds Dont Use a Crosswalk (1998) explores the role of theatre in society, wherein the protagonist is a director who returns to his college to helm a production. It navigates the generational conflicts in Korean society between the 1980s and the end of the century, which is still reflected in the present day. Oedipus: The Fate of the Story (2000) is a reimagining of Sophocles Oedipus and explores the political and personal affairs that might have occurred behind closed doors.
Sound of the Moon (2006), set in the late sixth century during Koreas Three Kingdoms period, portrays the romance between an aspiring gayageum musician and the Princess of Silla, which creates intrigues with diplomatic, cultural, and socio-political implications. And The Winds Desire (2007) tells the story of a middle-aged television writer in crisis in modern-day Seoul, who financially supports her family abroad and starts an affair with a young photographer, which reignites her passion for life.
While these plays reflect specific Korean sentiments and sensibilities, these stories have international appeal. The questions they pose about art, love, family, politics, and society transcend cultural and national boundaries.
Muu info
This collection contains four plays by contemporary Korean playwright Myung-Wha Kim - the first translated collection of Korean plays written by a female playwright - translated into English by Walter Byongsok Chon.
Acknowledgments
About Sound of the Moon and Other Plays by Myung-Wha Kim
Notes about the Content and Formatting of the Translation
English Bios of Original Author (Myung-Wha Kim), Translator (Walter Byongsok
Chon), English Language Translation Consultant (Anne M. Hamilton)
Completed Translated Work
Birds Dont Use a Crosswalk
Oedipus: The Fate of the Story
Sound of the Moon
The Winds Desire
Notes
References
Myung-Wha Kim is a playwright and director. She made her debut with Birds Do Not Cross the Crosswalk, which won the Samsung Literary Award for Best Play in 1997. Her plays include First Birthday, The Winds Desire, Redolence, and The End of the Royal Palace Dining Hall, among others. She won numerous awards including the Cha Beom-Seok Theater Award, Daesan Literary Award, Dong-A Theater Award, the Grand Prize in the Asahi Shimbun Theatrical Arts Award, and Yeo Seok-Gi Theater Critic Award. She founded Nanhee Theatre Company in 2018, which became The Nanhee in 2020, and took up directing.
Walter Byongsok Chon is a dramaturg, critic, translator, educator, and theatre scholar from South Korea. He is the associate professor of dramaturgy at Ithaca College. Dramaturgy: Yale Rep, ONeill Center, New York Musical Festival. Co-Managing Editor for South Korea for The Theatre Times. Co-author of Dramaturgy: The Basics (with Anne M. Hamilton). Co-Recipient (with Anne M. Hamilton): 2022 Daesan Foundation Translation Grant and 2024 Bogliasco Fellowship.
