Overview
On the Korean island of Man-Jae, three elderly haenyeos—sea women—spend their dying days diving into the ocean to harvest seafood. They have no heirs to their millennia-old way of life. Across the globe on the island of Manhattan, a Korean-Canadian playwright, twice an immigrant, spends her days wrestling with the expectation that she write “authentic” stories about her identity. But what, exactly, is her identity? And how can she write about it without selling her own skin?
Casting & Production
Casting
HAN SOL — a haenyeo in her 90s
GO MIN — a haenyeo in her 80s
SOOK JA — a haenyeo in her 70s
HA YOUNG/VOICE — a Korean-Canadian Manhattanite in her late 20s
WHITE HUSBAND — husband to Ha Young in his late 20s
STAGE MANAGERS should be played by the production’s actual
white male stagehands.
Casting Note:
No one speaks with an accent, except the one that is natural for the performer herself. Most ideally, elderly Korean women will play the haenyeos. Ideally, elderly Asian women of any ethnicity will play the haenyeos. Less ideally, younger Asian women will play the haenyeos. Even less ideally, elderly Asian men will play the haenyeos. Under not so ideal circumstances, younger Asian men will play the haenyeos. Under no circumstances will any of these four roles be played by someone who is not Asian.
No exceptions.
Setting
Place
만재 Man-Jae Island and Manhattan Island.
Time
Present Day
Reviews
“Fascinating. Audacious. Deftly satirical and utterly on-target.”
—The Boston Globe
“Powerful, refreshingly direct, and honest. A sight to behold.”
—Cape Cod Times
Media
