Reprising role decades later: 'Little Monk' 34 years on

Korea Herald

a day ago

In 'Sammaekyung,' actor revisits role that shaped his life, reimagines it for new generation
What does it feel like to return to a role you first played three decades ago?
For Ji Chun-seong, it is a mix of responsibility, pressure and deep honor.
In 1991, Ji was 25 when he played the career-defining role of the young temple apprentice Do-nyeom in 'A Little Monk,' directed by Park Won-geun. Now, at 59, he returns to the stage as the same character — now aged by both the years and the memory of a life lived in the shadow of that performance. The story picks up right where it left off.
'Back then, after performing in 'A Little Monk,' there was a lot of praise,' Ji recalled during a group interview at the National Theater on Monday. 'It's not an exaggeration to say that the life I've lived since has, in many ways, been shaped by that role. It carried me forward.'
Set to premiere at the Myeongdong Theater on July 17, 'Sammaekyung' is a reimagining of the classic 'A Little Monk,' adapted by acclaimed director Lee Cheol-hee.
The original play, written in 1939 by Ham Se-deok and first staged by Yu Chi-jin, is a cornerstone of Korea's theatrical history. It tells the story of Do-nyeom, a child monk abandoned by his mother and raised in the seclusion of a mountainside temple. The boy's yearning, the ideological tensions between Buddhist detachment and human desire and the unfolding conflicts between characters ignite the core of the play, posing timeless questions about fate, will and the human condition.
In this new version, director Lee places the actor in a play-within-a-play. Standing at the threshold between life and death, the actor resolves to return to the spotlight one final time. This time, he is determined to surrender himself completely to the role.
'Back then, I thought no one could play this role better than me. But now, I realize no actor can ever perfectly become a character,' Ji said. 'There's something universal in that struggle. It's no longer just my story. It's the story of every actor.'
Lee said reviving a classic carries a broader mission for him — a responsibility, as a contemporary theater-maker, to preserve, restage and establish Korean stage drama in the zeitgeist.
'I've long wondered why we don't bring back more of the great Korean plays,' Lee said. 'When I read the works of our senior playwrights, I'm struck by the depth with which they delve into the human soul, and the breadth of their perspective on the world. There's something powerful about reintroducing these works to today's audiences — not as mere nostalgia, but as living, breathing art.'
'Sammaekyung' refers to a state of complete immersion, or a meditative trance in which all distractions dissolve and the mind is wholly focused on a single object. It is also a fitting metaphor for the way both the actor and director have approached the production.
'I've been living like a monk for the past three months. It's been the same daily routine of rehearsing and practicing over and over,' Ji said. 'The theater is sacred ground. Unless you give your all, you'll never feel honest facing the audience.'
'I hope each audience member walks away with something different,' the director said. 'But what I considered most important in this production was creating a moment of when the audience might ask themselves, 'When was the last time I burned with such intensity?''
The National Theater Company's 'Sammaekyung' runs from July 17 to Aug. 3. English subtitles will be provided on Thursdays and Sundays, except July 27.