Translation result.
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| Press conference for the play Uncle Vanya / Photo: Kwon Gwang-il |
[Sports Today reporter Song Oh-jung] Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya has been retooled for the present day, reaching past its classical roots to speak to contemporary audiences.
On the afternoon of the 7th, LG Arts Center held a press conference for its production of Uncle Vanya. Lee Hyun-jung, director of the LG Arts Center, director Son Sang-gyu, and cast members Lee Seo-jin, Go Ah-sung, Yang Jong-wook, Lee Hwa-jung, and Kim Soo-hyun attended and discussed the new staging.
This reinterpretation of Chekhov’s canonical work reframes Uncle Vanya for modern viewers, and the production promises an intense ensemble performance by mounting every show with a single cast.
◆LG Arts Center’s third in-house production: rethinking how to support Korean theater
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| Director Son Sang-gyu at the Uncle Vanya press conference / Photo: Kwon Gwang-il |
This is the third play LG Arts Center has produced since 2024. Asked what the project means for the center, Lee Hyun-jung said they deliberately chose a classic that still poses questions relevant to our time. “Our goal is to share meaning and value for the present,” she said. “We want to create work that resonates broadly. We’re focused on producing well-crafted theater at a high standard so audiences can both enjoy it and see new possibilities opened up.”
Lee also explained why Son Sang-gyu, who previously performed in The Cherry Orchard, was invited back as director. “Working together on The Cherry Orchard in 2024, I was impressed by his ability to interpret characters,” Lee Hwa-jung said. “Later, I watched his staging of The Life of Others at the LG U+ Stage and it was astonishing. It was the first theatrical adaptation of that German film, which he adapted himself. He conveyed pre‑unification Germany to 21st‑century Korean audiences with vivid clarity and conviction. I thought we had a major directing talent and, at the wrap party, I suggested we collaborate again.”
She added that this is Son’s first large‑house production. “Providing art‑hall opportunities to promising, talented directors and collaborating on productions is how LG Arts Center can contribute to Korean theater,” she said, noting the center plans to continue this approach.
Making his large‑stage debut with Uncle Vanya, Son Sang-gyu said the play resonates differently now than when he first encountered it as a child. “Working on this piece has offered me consolation,” he said. “I wanted to share that with audiences, which is why I chose it.”
◆A warm salute to all the Vanias leading ordinary yet meaningful lives
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| Press conference for the play Uncle Vanya / Photo: Kwon Gwang-il |
Son described Vanya as a man who faces missed opportunities, regret and humiliation. “Who can say he lived wrongly?” he asked. He linked the play’s concerns to today’s culture of quick judgment. “We live in a time when it’s all too easy to wound others. In person, we might be more restrained, but online or from a distance, judging and evaluating people has become trivial—and that feels violent.”
He continued, “We accept a tree’s knots and crooked branches without asking why they exist. Why can’t we meet people with the same tolerance? Do we need to be so harsh on ourselves because we’re constantly comparing?”
On his directorial approach, Son said he continually asks how each scene can serve the play’s central message. “Nothing will ever be perfect,” he conceded, “but I’m doing my utmost so I won’t be ashamed of the result.”
Lee Hyun-jung summarized the production’s heart: empathy. “I was drawn to the idea of saying, ‘It’s okay to be that way,’” she said. “I believe this play offers a warm consolation to all the Vanias leading ordinary, yet profound lives.”
The cast shared their own takes on the work. Yang Jong-wook, who plays Astrov, noted that many plays rely on spectacle and plot to track character change. “Uncle Vanya lets each life unfold and invites you to imagine the years after the action ends. That lingering resonance is its greatest virtue.”
Lee Hwa-jung, who portrays Elena, offered a viewing tip: “When the characters’ situations reach the audience through the actor’s words, emotions and circumstances, there will be moments of real identification.”
Kim Soo-hyun, who plays Serebryakov, said the performance will prompt empathy regardless of how viewers interpret it. “You’ll recognize jealousy, greed, despair and pain—emotions that still play out today. That will make the piece relatable,” he said.
◆Lee Seo-jin and Go Ah-sung make their theater debuts
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| Press conference for the play Uncle Vanya / Photo: Kwon Gwang-il |
Lee Seo-jin, who joked this might be his “last” play, admitted the first theater experience has been challenging. “I’ve been doing a lot of variety shows and had stepped back from acting,” he said. “The idea of theater felt daunting since it’s my first time. But I trusted the people I met. The timing felt right, and though I’d never done stage work, it seemed like a rare opportunity. I followed the advice of those around me and decided to try.”
Asked what’s been hardest, Lee pointed to the regimented routine of rehearsal. “I’ve never lived a scheduled life, but now my days follow a strict rhythm. That’s unfamiliar and tough. We start performances in May, and rehearsals began in March. I can’t stop thinking about the show. I asked veterans when the nerves go away; they said once the run begins, it settles. But ‘when will it start?’ still worries me.”
Lee said he has come to understand Vanya through conversations with colleagues. “Vanya’s circumstances are much worse than mine, but the relationships and situations echo what people face today. That helps me inhabit the role. I don’t try to play a foreign character; I see it as playing a contemporary version of myself.” He emphasized that although the production reinterprets a classic, its concerns align with modern anxieties.
On the difference between screen and stage acting, Lee said the pressure is both the hardest part and the biggest attraction. “There are no retakes in theater, and everything is presented in one continuous shot. That creates a tension—you must reveal everything at once.”
Go Ah-sung, who is used to working in solitude to analyze roles, said the most striking contrast is the collective process: “On screen, you cut and move on, and the footage can be adjusted later. Theater demands building together and sustaining two hours of intensity without letting the energy drop. I’m introverted, so that communal intensity isn’t easy,” she laughed.
Uncle Vanya runs May 7–31 at LG Arts Center Seoul, LG SIGNATURE Hall.
[Sports Today reporter Song Oh-jung ent@stoo.com]
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