Mitani production staged in Japanese in Seoul — Korea Herald
In Seoul, South Korea, the Coex Artium theater staged “American Dream,” a play by Japanese playwright and director Koki Mitani. It is the first of Mitani’s works to be performed in Korea in Japanese by the original cast. The production was the final stop of its tour, Korea Herald reports.
The story of four film workers
The play is devoted to the anti-communist campaign in Hollywood and its human consequences. Mitani’s starting point was a speech by screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who was placed on the Hollywood blacklist. In 1970, Trumbo said that there was no need to look for heroes or villains in these events, as there were only victims.
At the center of the plot are four members of the film industry who are interrogated over possible ties to communists. According to Mitani, he studied the reactions of Hollywood figures who faced persecution during that period and identified four patterns of behavior. Some people did not abandon their positions to the end, while others informed on colleagues; the playwright created the characters based on these patterns.
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Mitani noted that most of all he wanted to portray not a famous screenwriter or director, but an unnamed actor whose name has not been preserved. In his view, such people also fought in their own way.
Pressure and comic elements
The director emphasized that he does not write plays for the sake of political statements. At the same time, he believes that society has become somewhat less free in terms of expression. Mitani linked pressure not only to politics, but also to the influence of producers, production companies, and social media.
At first, the playwright did not consider this subject suitable for comedy and planned to stage it seriously. However, after a month of rehearsals with the actors, comic elements appeared in the production. Mitani also said that he would like to create a comedy in South Korea with Korean actors someday.
