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How did the National Theatre Company of Korea’s The Crucible serve as

a successful, balanced compromise of Eastern and Western art and

culture, or did it diminish an ‘endangered’ Korean theatre?

Theatre

Extended Essay

May 2017

Word Count: 3918

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Abstract

This essay discusses the effectiveness and limitations of intercultural theatre

by looking at the National Theatre Company of Korea’s The Crucible, directed

by Junghee Park in December 2015. Intercultural theatre, a contemporary

theatrical academic discourse that examines creations of a hybrid

performance of different cultures, is introduced before unpacking the universal

elements of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The essay then analyzes how the

spatiotemporal setting of the play pertains to its original setting, the time of

which the author was writing, and contemporary Korean society. It finally

assesses whether The Crucible was appropriate for the National Theatre

Company of Korea to communicate its 2015 theme of ‘celebrate liberation,

beware of Subjugation.’ (Y. Kim 2) The research method includes my live

theatre experience of The Crucible once from the audience and once from the

special seats on stage, a backstage tour, interviews with the theatre company

staffs and actors, press interviews, a program, editorials published by the

company director and the play director, audience surveys and interviews, and

my analysis on directorial and scenographic choices. My theatrical experience

suggests that theatre is the medium through which one can enhance

sociopolitical sensibilities and grow a consciousness of manifold cultures.

Therefore, the research exercise will discuss the following question: How did

the National Theatre Company of Korea’s The Crucible serve as a

successful, balanced compromise of Eastern and Western art and

culture, or did it diminish an ‘endangered’ Korean theatre? While

criticizing the national theatre’s passive efforts to promote Korean theatrical

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styles in light of Korean history as well as that of international intercultural

movement, I would like to encourage the theatrical community to take an

intercultural approach to sustain Korean theatrical traditions in consonance

with foreign theatre styles, especially by encouraging the evocation of the

Korean traditional, metaphysical concept, ‘Han’. (296 words)

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Table of Contents

I. Introduction………………………………………………………………… 5

II. The Crucible and The National Theatre………………………………… 6

III. Intercultural Theatre………………………………………………………. 8

IV. Performance analysis..……………………………………………………11

i. Scenography…………………………………………………………...11

ii. Theatre space………………………………………………………….12

iii. Historicization…………………………………………………………. 14

iv. Actors’ Interpretation…………………………………………………. 15

v. Mise-en-scène………………………………………………………… 16

vi. Audience Reception………………………………………………….. 18

V. Intercultural Theatre in Korea…………………………………………….19

VI. Conclusion……………………………………………………………….... 21

Works Cited……………………………………………………...…………23

Appendix ……………………………………………………………………29

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I. Introduction

American theatre director Anne Bogart defines artistic decisions as a violent

action because “to place a chair at a particular angle on the stage destroys

every other possible choice, every other option” (Bogart 45). Clearly, selecting

one possibility over other alternatives lets other options vanish. Therefore, I

assume that all of the directorial choices are indicative of the performance

theme and style. The goal of this essay is to examine the progress of

theatrical interculturalism in Korea and western influence on Korean theatre

through an analysis of the National Theatre Company of Korea’s production of

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The research question is: how did the National

Theater Company of Korea’s The Crucible serve as a successful,

balanced compromise of Eastern and Western arts and cultures, or did it

diminish an endangered Korean theatre? Given that the annual theme of

the National Theatre was culture- and history-specific to Korea, the essay will

first analyze whether the play functioned as an appropriate medium to

communicate the company’s annual theme of ‘Celebrate liberation, beware of

oppression’ for 2015. The research employs a wide range of methods

including, but not limited to, my live theatre experience of The Crucible once

from the audience and once from the special seats on stage, a backstage

tour, interviews with the theatre company manager, lighting director, stage

manager and actor, press interviews, a program, editorials published by the

company director and the play director, audience surveys and interviews. The

essay will then expand by asking to what extent foreign plays can incorporate

and express a culturally specific concept in Korea. The essay then shifts the

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focus to international cultural exchanges that are taking place between

cultures. Ultimately, the essay aims to provide an answer as to whether and

how theatre, especially Korean theatre, can successfully promote its own

theatrical traditions while accepting foreign theatrical influences. The analysis

begins with an investigation of the unique aspects of The Crucible.

II. The Crucible and The National Theatre

Yuncheol Kim translated and introduced The Crucible to South Korea in the

1970s; however, he was not able to publish the text until after the 1990s, as

the government declared the play as a ‘communist’ book (Y. Kim 3). In 2015,

Kim reintroduced The Crucible as the last piece of the National Theatre

Company of Korea’s season to represent the company’s annual theme of

'Celebrate liberation, Beware of subjugation.’

Written by American playwright Arthur Miller, The Crucible expresses the

endeavor of the oppressed towards liberation. The story is based on the

Salem Witch Trials that happened in the 17th century in the United States. The

Salem Witch Trials refer to a series of accusations of witchcraft that occurred

in Salem, Massachusetts in the U.S. from 1692 to 1693 (Ray 467). The

Puritan perception that evil spirits could manifest itself in individuals set the

basis for the suspicion to proliferate. The unstable socio-political

circumstance, economic depression, teenage rebellion and personal

jealousies further flamed the hysteria (Blumberg). It is estimated that two

hundred people were accused of consorting with the devil. Among the

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accused, twenty people were sentenced to death. The trials shattered the

entire community, as the accused confessed falsely and incriminated others

to vindicate themselves. The hysteria that arose within the town suggests that

religious fanaticism can mislead to an entire community (John). From my

perspective, The Salem Witch Trials symbolize an historical tragedy in which

people were victimized, tortured and killed using an illegal and religious

hegemony.

The National Theatre Company of Korea, currently led by Kim, is a repertory

troupe performing and operating under the umbrella of the National Theatre of

Korea (S. Kim). In his interview with The Asian Economy in 2014, Yuncheol

Kim the artistic director of the National Theatre Company of Korea

pronounced his plan to retain the National theatre’s Korean identity and obtain

international competitiveness (M. Jo). In line with this idea, the company

communicated its 2015 theme of ‘Celebrate liberation, Beware of Subjugation’

through Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. By choosing The Crucible, Kim expected

the Korean audience would resonate with the story and see themselves in the

text (Y. Kim 2). I find it essential to investigate whether the company

successfully communicated its historically and culturally specific theme

without succumbing to the norms of Western theatre. Although the universal

theme may establish a connection between the setting of the play and the

socio-political circumstances in Korea by themselves, the patriotic theme

means that the choice of The Crucible must be questioned in relation to its

relevance with Korean arts: how does The Crucible parallel with Korean

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society?

The National Theatre Company of Korea operates under the system where

the artistic director of the company selects the play and requests an external

director to stage the play (Yoo). Although Yuncheol Kim bore responsibility for

choosing the repertoire based on the theme, the performance was directed by

Junghee Park, who was strongly influenced by German postmodernism and

Patrice Pavis’s theatre semiotics. Kim, who employed Park, anticipated that

the play would be communicated to Korean audiences not as an American

play but as a contemporary Korean story under Junghee Park’s directorship

(Y. Kim 2). Yet the media produced a lack of analysis on the appropriateness

of the choice and the correlation between the play and the theme. Therefore,

in order to analyze the production through an intercultural lens, it is worthwhile

evaluating whether Korean culture had any influence on the director’s work, or

vice versa.

III. Intercultural Theatre

The exchange of different cultures has made contemporary theatre rich in

content and diversity; however, it is inevitable that during the trade, theatre

encounters a cultural challenge where the traditional art form is modified and

adapted in accordance with foreign theatre styles (Silva, et al.). For this

reason, some discourage intercultural trade whilst others encourage it. Anne

Bogart is one of them:

The Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki stated, 'International cultural exchange is impossible - therefore we must try.' I agree

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with all my heart. The impossibility of seeing beyond one’s own cultural context is a political act in the world and has the potential to break down the rigid assumption surrounding us. (Bogart 16)

As Bogart suggests, exploring different cultures can be used as a means of

enhancing international sympathy, empathy and understanding. Theatrical

exchanges can be practiced through a live theatre experience and by merging

theatres of different origins and cultures. No matter which argument is valid

enough to pursue, the conflicting claims highlight the need to study the

necessities and limitations of intercultural studies in theatre.

Intercultural theatre, according to Patrice Pavis, is a “creation of hybrid forms

that draws upon a more or less conscious and voluntary mixing of

performance traditions traceable to distinct cultural areas.” (9) According to

Knowles, intercultural performance is not a new movement, as the indigenous

theatres had practiced interculturalism by trading performance form for

thousands of years. He further pointed out that interculturalism in theatre rose

to the surface during the European modernist movement in between the 20th

and 21st century (6). As intercultural theatrical practices continue, however,

critics argued that the blending of cultures has been misused exclusively by

occidental theatre society. Dan Rebellato condemned the current intercultural

trend by asserting that “western theatre’s attempt to co-opt Asian forms to

invigorate its own culture” is a remnant of 18th century Imperialism (Rebellato

3). As he implies, most of the previous intercultural approaches ended up with

theatre companies making eastern theatre appropriated to western cultural

norms or styles.

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Unlike other countries in the Asian-Pacific region, Korea has not had its

governance taken over by Western imperialists, but by Japan. After the

emancipation from Japan and the Korean War, Korea has industrialized at a

strikingly rapid rate. Due to this fast recovery from the aftermath of the

colonization, Yeeyoun Im stated that South Korea has favored the notion of

interculturalism rather than catering to post-colonialism. Also, the rapid

industrialization through westernization has triggered favoritism towards

Western culture, isolating Korean traditional arts from the stream of

contemporary arts (Im 271).

One cannot call the production a success of intercultural exploration if the

director imitates or conforms to another culture. Likewise, if the company just

transports the Korean audience to a western setting, the company is not

appreciating the cultural norms that the audience has. To avoid the criticism

that the company has shoehorned the play into the 2015 repertoire or for

promotional or commercial purposes, the director should have embodied the

contextual relevance between The Crucible and Korean contemporary society

through the production.

IV. Performance Analysis

i. Scenography

The first question to be asked is how the stage design contributed to Korean

cultural and aesthetic concept. The scenography will be examined in order to

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evaluate the intercultural elements in the play. Looking at the production

elements of The Crucible, the stage design, costumes, and sound design are

in line with typical Western realistic theatre. The set and costume design

strengthened the 16th century Salem village, thus, the scenographic decisions

cast doubt on whether the Korean elements have been fully integrated into

the performance.

Figure 1. Screenshot of the video from The Crucible press rehearsal taken by Jaehwan Park

ii. Theatre Space

Designing a theatre space is crucial in the theory of theatre as it identifies the

performance aspect and the relationship between the spectator and the actor

(Llewellyn-Jones 3). Arguably, the theatre space may be evidence that Park

bridged the gap between the two worlds: real Korea and theatrical Salem, in

order to increase the understanding of the text. The deposition of the

audience contributes to this argument. In The Crucible, the arrangement of

the audience stands out from other plays as the 4 sides of the proscenium

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stage are enclosed by the audience. The director arbitrarily introduced the

special audience seat to the selected 20 to 30 people in the audience, who

are guided backstage and then to the antique chairs on stage. On their way to

the special seats, the audience had to pass across the narrow staircase that

is usually strictly forbidden for the audience to use. As soon as the audience

enters onto the stage, the audience hears the cricket sounds over the

amplified crowd noise.

Figure 2 Audience seating plan

In the editorial published by the National Theatre Company of Korea, the

stage designer Sunhee Shin, along with Park, wrote that their aspiration was

to develop tolerance and console the characters. The design was intended to

make the audience appreciate the day-to-day desires and innocent

consciences of the characters. She further wrote that she brought the

audience closer to the stage and surrounded the stage with the audience, so

that the audience can “vividly feel and ache for the desire and conscience” (Y.

Kim 28). The ‘special’ audience seats, according to the information gathered

from my interviews with audience members and my surveys (see Appendix 2),

were conducive to maintaining the suspension of disbelief. The close

proximity between the cast and the audience permitted an insightful

Stage    

Special  seats    

Audience    

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observation. The special audience members were integrated into the set and

the text, while being conscious of their reality as spectators. Actors referred to

the audience as spectators in Act I and addressed them as members of the

Jury in Act III. As a member of the audience sitting on the special stage, I felt

the onstage audience and the audience in the main auditorium reflected on

each other. With this effect, the audience members were “constantly reminded

of their identity as spectators” (Appendix 2). By doing so, Park and Shin

juxtaposed the contemporary real world with the theatrical world. One of the

greatest concerns from the audience and myself regarding the special seating

arrangement had to do with visibility; however, the staging and choreography

carefully catered to the audience sitting in both sides. One audience member

noted that:

By sitting behind the stage, I was given a window into the subtleties of the characters shifting personalities that I would not have realized otherwise, such as the secretive eye contact between the girls and the actors’ back acting. It added another emotional layer to the plot. (Appendix 2)

iii) Historicization

Brecht examined the character and text from the perspective of “children of a

scientific age, human beings in society.“ (Brecht 183) His historicization

created socially conscious theatre by making the audience detach themselves

from emotional involvement in the play and question the link between the

settings of the literature and the time of writing (Yüksel 135). American

Director Elizabeth LeCompte also used historicization to justify her directorial

choice when she directed the Crucible:

I want to put the audience in a position of examining their own

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relation to this material as “witnesses” - witnesses to the play itself, as well as witnesses to the “story” of the play. Our own experience has been that many, many of our audience have strong associations with the play. (qtd. in Heuvel 243)

The Crucible is a reflection of the socio-political conditions at its time of

writing. In the editorial published in The New Yorker, the playwright Arthur

Miller stated that he had found the practices of the witch trials analogous to

those of making accusations of treason by the U.S. congressional committees

during the Red Hunt (Miller). The Red Hunt refers to a series of political

repression in the 50s by the former U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy and his

associates, during which the political freedom of Individuals was repressed

under the pretense of hunting out ‘communists’. Repression included

unsubstantiated public accusations, charges of Communist subversion,

establishment of an anti-Communist organization called the House of Un-

American Activities Committee, creation of the Hollywood blacklists,

imprisonment of American artists, and the suppression of freedom of

expression (Carleton). The exercise of political control towards American

citizens was designed to retain political profit and reputation. Based on his

experience during the Red Hunt, Miller draws a multi-parallel between 3

worlds: quasi-Salem in The Crucible, the real Salem where the Salem Witch

Trials occurred in 1692, and American society at Miller’s time.

Premiering in 1953 in the U.S., The Crucible has been traveling worldwide,

each of production serving as an allegory of a particular social circumstance

wherever it is performed (Bigsby). Even though The Crucible is meant to be

an allegory of the Red Hunt in 1950s, Jane Dominick the member of Arthur

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Miller Society states that the witch-hunt can symbolize any form of unjust

oppression that may take place (qtd. in Bigsby). Arguably, the world we see

through the persona of John Proctor can also represent our contemporary

world, in which corruptions trigger paranoia and pit individual’s conscience

against egocentricity.

iv) Actors’ Interpretation

Interviews revealed that actors have found the relevance between the

character and his or her sociological aspects. During the interview, Actor

Jaejin Jung explained how he characterized Francis Nurse:

[Francis] is a devout, old man who fathers 11 kids until his spouse is unjustly accused of practicing witchcraft. He is archetypical of the middle class in Korean society –innocent, powerless, and oppressed (Appendix 1).

Francis Nurse is one of few Salem villagers who notice injustice in the court,

and his righteousness despite fear towards tragic doom highlights one’s

dignity over oppression. Jung noted that Nurse’s situation still manifests itself

in the lives of contemporary Korean people. He likened Francis Nurse to

“seomin”, a self-derogatory Korean neologism used by the middle class to

lament on their social position in the Korean hierarchal system. He also

remarked the tyranny and authority in the play, followed by the victimization of

the innocent, warns the occurrence of a Korean version of the Salem Witch

Trials. Another actor, Sunjae Lee’s, interpretation of the play addresses the

play’s religious and political connotations (qtd. in Yang). Lee argued that the

narrative reflects Korean society by highlighting concepts that were manifest

in Korean situation, such as “priests tainted with materialism, political

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persecution of human rights, prejudice against human dignity” (qtd. in Ko). In

sum, the actors embodied the concept of historicization by connecting their

roles with their individual-self as a social being.

v) Mise-en-scène

As opposed to Brecht who emphasized the social aspect of the play, Park, in

her press interview with Jaehoon Lee, revealed that she does not place an

emphasis on social aspects of theatre:

There is no need to reinforce the politically universal message within the play, as we are already thrown into the world where everything is politics. My focus is on the mechanism arisen from such circumstances. I do not want to present a political theatre. The audience should look for the individual voice. (qtd. in Lee)

The overarching theme that appears throughout Park’s productions is

exploring the character's state of mind and its relevance to the modern

audience. Park practices ‘deconstructionism’, which is, according to Park, an

attempt to “deconstruct the elements from the original text and recreate them”

(Choi 170). Park said, when directing ‘The Maids’, she aspired to emphasize

the universal issue of human relationship and desire instead of the hierarchal

nature of the play (Moon). In order for the underlying theme of lunacy driven

by oppression to be noticeable throughout The Crucible, Park added

additional scenes and an ensemble consisting of girls (qtd. in Y. Jo). In her

editorial published by the National Theatre Company of Korea, Park likened

the ‘girls’ to an elastic spring, explaining that the their plot in the story mirrors

a potential revolt of the most vulnerable against the oppressors in the real

contemporary world (Y. Kim 15). The inclusion of an ensemble in Act 1 and 2

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positions three ensemble members at the edge of the stage; nearly invisible,

the ensemble members performed choreography based on abstract

movements expressing the psychological aspects of the play. This directorial

choice affirms that the director’s decision only matches with her own

dramaturgy, avoiding from the discussion of the correlation between delivering

the original text and awakening of the Korean sociopolitical sensibilities.

vi) Audience Reception

The audience survey result supports that the idea of historicization was

conveyed to Korean audience to some extent; however, the interviews further

reveal that the audience rather resonated with the emotional aspects.

According to the online and offline audience surveys conducted from

December 13th to 27th, 76% of the respondents could apply the setting play

to their current situation (Appendix 2). When additional online interviews were

performed with theatre bloggers to understand the factors that attributed to

the response regarding the play’s appropriateness, as well as its connection

with Korean society, the audience members were found to be emotionally

attached to the story. One audience member who were asked to select the

most memorable scene answered:

I could feel his agony when John Proctor the commoner withdrew his false confession and chose to be executed. It was ironic that John Proctor, who denied the existence of God in the trial, mumbles a prayer. This was an idiosyncratic moment that was different from the original play, but this scene made the play closer to perfect. (Appendix 2)

Compared to Brecht who uses the Alienation effect to distance the

audience away from the story of the play, Park engaged the audience

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in the play, making audience to respond emotionally to the characters’

adversities. The audience response to characters’ psychology,

therefore, refutes the idea that historicization was used as a means to

make the play socially conscious and intercultural.

V. Intercultural Theatre in Korea

There has been a growing concern towards the hierarchal structure of the

National Theatre Company of Korea. Moon criticizes that the employed

director is ‘manufacturing’ a production in accordance with the company’s

order, and thereby causing a friction that decreases theatrical density (Moon).

The schism, along with concern towards the impacts of interculturalism on

Korean theatrical tradition, stretches to the realm of contemporary Korean

theatre industry:

[Japanese] influence, heavily mixed with American culture, persists to this day…. Ever since, our culture has been polluted and diluted for purposes of Western and Japanese domination (Ervan 106).

Korean traditional arts are said to portray the community spirit of ‘Han’.

According to The National Institute of the Korean Language, it refers to a

deep, cultural feeling consisting of grudge, sorrow, pity and resentment. Han

was evoked by an excruciating history of oppression and endurance that

created an emotional tie between Koreans. Han can also be connotative of

hope that washes away the depressive ‘Han’, while it implies a sense of grief

most of the time. Evoking such feelings through Korean traditional theatre, so-

called ‘resistant theatre’, was used as a weapon to fight for freedom from

oppression, especially during the dictatorial period in the 1970s (Erven 107). It

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is true in that the resentment within Han adds level of gravity to one’s mind

and creates communality (Glionna). However, the manifestation of Han within

the arts has decreased along with the diminishing Korean traditional arts due

to the flux of western culture. Korean theatre’s predilection for passively

accepting western theatrical styles at the expense of its own theatre proves

that that Korea has taken a limited approach to embody the notion of

intercultural theatre. The obsequious adoption of foreign culture is harmful to

international cultural exchange and has put local traditions under the threat.

This unhealthy approach should be avoided in order to foster an independent

Korean theatre industry.

The current trend of cultural international exchange has weakened traditions

and national identity (Pavis 6). Bearing this in mind, what can be done to

promote a healthy, appropriate intercultural theatre in Korea? Although there

were several attempts to incorporate such feeling into non-traditional texts,

the complexity and dynamics of Korean cultural concept, such as Han, have

made it difficult to communicate it to non-Korean audience (Huer). Arguably,

creating a communal, international sense of feeling through the exchange of

art is a challenging task. Every cultural concept contains a very sophisticated

and refined feeling (Pellecchia), and Han is an esoteric concept whose

contextual meaning and usage varies depending on the circumstance

(Bannon). Han might be a complicated emotion to internationalize; however,

the Korean theatre industry must propel the promotion of Han whilst accepting

the western culture and preserving the traditions. Although such a concept is

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hard to translate artistically, there are some successful cases; Leeyoun

Taek’s Hamlet, an intercultural theatre production which hybridized the culture

of East and West, restored the traditional spirit by reconstructing

Shakespeare’s play in Korean tradition, while catering to every audience from

diverse countries (Im 265). Attempts such as Lee’s Hamlet will require the

audience to interpret the play in depth, ipso facto placing the quality of the

Korean arts on an intercultural level.

VI. Conclusion

It is questionable whether The National Theater Company of Korea’s The

Crucible effectively mediated between Eastern and Western arts. The

production may have sought to liberate the audience on an individual,

psychological level using its theatre space and practicing Park’s dramaturgy.

From an intercultural perspective however, the play did not include significant

efforts to shed a specific cultural and historical light on the scenography and

other elements of production, except for the actors who alluded to

historicization. Plus, considering Park’s discontent with presenting a play from

the community’s perspective, the company’s decision to employ Park as a

director is at odds with its patriotic theme and the company director’s

interpretation of The Crucible. This also suggests that the choice of the

Crucible did not properly serve as an emancipator of Korean society from

foreign cultural oppression.

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Although the National Theatre Company of Korea could have communicated

its annual theme of ‘Beware of Subjugation, Celebrate Liberation’ and the

theme of the Crucible in an intercultural style, there is a certain limitation as

art reception will always be different according to the cultural context in which

it occurs (Pellecchia). Despite the challenges that accompany intercultural

theatrical exploration, one should continue to experience diverse cultures

through theatre. Director of East West Centre Sarejevo Haris Pašović argues

that we can achieve a spiritual development as humans “by having a dialogue

with other cultures and different world views.” (Pašović) Therefore, it is

important for theatre to avoid monoculture and instead weld different cultures

together by practicing interculturalism. Knowing that any artistic decision

precludes other possibilities, a director should make a wise, yet considerate

decision to encourage people to see beyond their own cultural wall. ‘If you

need to learn a different culture, you need to understand its performing art as

it reflects the true life of people.‘ (Lee in conversation with Dheerendra) Once

these efforts continue, one will broaden a cross-cultural understanding to a

new horizon, which will serve as the empathy that will enrich world culture and

Korea’s theatrical art.

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Appendix 1

A personal interview with Jaejin Jung

• Conducted on December 19th, 2015 at Myeongdong Arts Theatre

• Translated into English by myself

Q: Could you introduce about yourself?

A: Hi. My name is Jaejin Jung. I debuted in 1973 and have been acting over

40 years. I play Francis Nurse in the Crucible.

Q: Could you give a brief explanation on your character?

A: He is a devout, old man who fathers 11 kids until his spouse is unjustly

accused of practicing witchcraft. He is archetypical of the middle class in

Korean society –innocent, powerless, and oppressed. He does not have any

interest and knowledge in politics and economics.

Q: When you are acting Francis Nurse, where do you draw your inspiration

from? As a Korean, what efforts have you made to understand your western

character?

A: My acting is not based on any actors. Instead, when I play Francis Nurse, I

try to get inspired by the general, common aspects of our society. In Korean

contemporary society, people like Nurse belong to the middle class, the class

consisting of so-called seomins*.

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*Seomin is a historical term to describe people who didn’t hold any reputable

social position in the government. Not it is used to refer to people who are

politically and socially disadvantaged.

Q: I’ve read an interview that the National Theatre Company of Korea chose

‘The Crucible’ was chosen because the play is appropriate to Korea’s current

social conditions. Do you think the National Theatre Company of Korea has

made a successful choice to represent its theme by selecting the Crucible as

this year’s closing play? Do you think the audience can understand the

messages that the play conveys with in their political, social, and cultural

context?

A: I think the audience can certainly understand the theme of oppression and

liberation and the message. ‘The Crucible’ is about tyranny and authority, and

Korea is the country where despots are still present in different forms. So I

think ‘The Crucible’ is similar to situations in South Korea. It is relevant with

Korean society in a sense that we are facing the conflicts between the right

wing and the left wing, the conflicts with North Korea, and other big and small

conflicts. The show warns that the Salem Witch Trials may occur in our

community someday in different forms. So I think the choice of the play was

appropriate for Korean audience.

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Appendix 2

Audience Interview

Audience Survey and Interview on the socio-political message behind the

National Theatre Company of Korea's The Crucible

• conducted online and offline

• conducted in both English and Korean from Dec 19th to Jan 5th

• participants: Korean aged above 18

• no. of participants: 59 (offline) + 16 (online) = 75

• translated into English by myself

1. Do you think the National Theatre Company of Korea has succeeded in

representing this year’s theme ’Subjugation and Liberation’ by selecting ’The

Crucible’ for the last show of this year?

Yes NO

71 (95%) 4 (5%)

2. While watching the show, were you able to draw any connections to

specific past or contemporary socio-political situations/issues that happened

or are happening in Korea?

Yes NO

72 (96%) 3 (4%)

3. Which sociopolitical events in Korea you think is thematically connected to

The National Theatre Company of Korea’s ‘The Crucible’? (Choose All)

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*The question was only answered by 16 online participants.

• Japanese Occupation (3)

• Civil Right Movement (7)

• Jeju 4.3. Incident (1)

• 2013 S. Korean Sabotage Plot (1)

• Persecution of Daniel Lee (5)

• Cyber Witch Trial (11)

• None (1)

• Other response: All political situations in the present and the past (1)

Optional short response question

4. What was the most memorable scene from 'The Crucible'? Why?

• The girls’ grotesque, eccentric, yet exquisite choreography in the

opening scene

• When Mary Warren, threatened in the court, dashes away from John

Proctor and gets infected with the hysteria.

• When John Product refuses to sign the false confession and chooses

to die. This scene encapsulates the theme of the play.

• John Proctor, with his wife hesitates between choosing to live (by

giving up on his free will) or die (by preserving his own will) on the day

before his execution.

• When the people (including the Judge) only believe Abigail’s testimony

and try to precede the trial without listening to other voice.

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• Last scene, when John Proctor walks towards the light that symbolizes

his execution.

• I could feel his agony when John Proctor the commoner withdrew his

false confession and chose to be executed. It was ironic that John

Proctor, who denied the existence of God in the trial, mumbles a

prayer. This was an idiosyncratic moment that was different from the

original play, but this scene made the play closer to perfect.

• In the court, the girls falsely confess that they have seen the evil spirit.

It shows how the majority utilizes its power to justify falsity and makes it

believable.

• "An ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statues."

This scene conveys the essence of the title of the play. And the most

famous line “ because it is my name.”

• Frankly speaking, there isn’t any big impressive moment. Perhaps it’s

because the directing wasn't strong enough. If I have to choose I will

pick the shamanistic dance in the beginning because this shows how

the public can be easily deceived and sacrificed by the power of

majority. It also reminded me of actor Jinsil Choi, who committed

suicide after suffering from hateful comments on the Internet.

• When Proctor refuses to sign his false testimony and implores Danforth

to leave his name with a cry of his soul. It shows a human conflict

caused by the egocentric and non-negotiable nature of humans

• By sitting behind the stage, I was given a window into the subtleties of

the characters shifting personalities that I would not have realized

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otherwise, such as the secretive eye contact between the girls and the

he actors’ back acting. It added another emotional layer to the plot.

With this aid, I was constantly reminded of my identity as spectators as

well.