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| Scenes from director Jang Hang-jun's play, "The Real Man Watanabe" / Courtesy of Insight Entertainment |
By Kim Rahn
Two star filmmakers have returned to the theater stage with plays they offered more than a decade ago, receiving rave reviews and achieving high booking rates from anticipating fans.
Director Jang Hang-jun's "The Real Man Watanabe" opened on Nov. 1 at Plus Theater in Daehangno, Seoul. The play premiered in 2010 as part of a series titled, "Directors Come to Stage," in which four filmmakers presented plays.
The play was Jang's theatrical debut, after directing the films, "Break Out" (2002) and "Forgotten" (2017). He had written and directed the play at the time of its premiere in 2010, and this time he took part in the project as its art director.
"The Real Man Watanabe" revolves around a third-rate movie director named Man-chun who is nearly broke. He goes to Japan after getting an offer from a Korean-Japanese businessman named Watanabe, who wants to make his autobiographical film. Man-chun learns Watanabe is actually a yakuza, but has no choice but to make the film as he already spent what he was paid to make it.
The veteran actors who take on the role of Watanabe ― Seo Hyun-chul, Son Jong-hak and Yoo Byeong-hun ― and young ones who play Man-chun ― Ki Se-jung, Yu Su-bin and Lim Jin-seob ― show their chemistry with each other during the 90-minute play.
While portraying the pain and regret of Watanabe as a Korean Japanese, the play features witty lines by the director that have been adapted to include some current issues.
It gained favorable reviews during previews from Oct. 25 to 30. "The Real Man Watanabe" will run through Jan. 15, 2023.
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| The poster for the play, "Clumsy People" / Courtesy of Jangcha, Park Company |
Jang started his career as a play writer and director in 1995 before his film directorial debut with "The Happenings" in 1998. While making films since, he has kept presenting plays, and his works have attracted huge attention and large audiences almost every time.
"Clumsy People" premiered in 1997, and was offered again in 2007 and 2012, fully filling the seats. For the play's comeback this time, Jang Jin has upgraded the script, and he himself will direct it as well.
It is a comedy about a thief, Jang Deok-bae, who practices tying rope so that he will not hurt the owner when he breaks into a house for theft, and a young teacher, Yu Hwa-i. Deok-bae breaks into Hwa-i's house, but Hwa-i develops sympathy for the kind-hearted thief. And things then take a new twist when police officers show up for a separate case downstairs.
Actors Lee Ji-hoon, Oh Moon-kang and Lim Mo-yun play Deok-bae, and actresses Kim Ju-yeon, Choi Ha-yun and Park Ji-ye take on the role of Hwa-i.
The play topped ticket sales for plays at major booking sites, Yes24 and Interpark, immediately after reservations started on Oct. 28.
"Clumsy People" will run at Yes24 Stage in Daehangno from Nov. 26 to Feb. 19, 2023.
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