Manseon: The Yearning of a Fisherman
06 Mar, 2025~
30 Mar, 2025
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Venue
Myeongdong Theater
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Genre
Theater
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Show Time
Weekdays 7.30pm ㅣSat & Sun 3pmㅣNo performance on Tuesday
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Tickets
R 60,000KRW | S 45,000KRW | A 30,000KRW
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Duration
110 minutes
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Enquiry
cs@ntck.or.kr
Language Korean
* English subtitles are provided on Thursdays and Sundays. (except 3/23).
Age Restriction Suitable for ages 14 and over
“Riding the wind, the waves, and the clouds—sailing in a boat full of fish.
Rowing with the wind, the clouds, and the waves as if paddling with chopsticks.”
From the dark, stormy sea, one boat has yet to return.
Then the fisherman Gomchi makes it home, his boat overflowing with white croakers, the sound of his gong ringing through the air. At last, chance to turn his luck around.
But instead, the crushing debt—now weighed down by outrageous interest and the cost of the borrowed boat—strips him of everything.
He refuses to lose it all.
Once more, he raises the anchor and sets sail toward the wild, unrelenting sea. This time, he is certain—his nets will be full again.
"That’s how a fisherman should live!"
“Waves crash upon the stage. A life tossed about like a tiny boat in the storm.”
—Dong-A Ilbo
Chon Seung Sei’s Manseon returns to the NTCK stage, opening the 2025 season with the story of those who refuse to surrender, even in the face of life’s relentless storms.
With director Shim Jae-chan’s masterful interpretation and the passionate collaboration of a seasoned creative team, this revival is more powerful than ever.
As torrential rain pours and fierce waves rise, a lone boat braves the raging sea. Will it return with a full catch?
A gripping tale of resilience unfolds—of those who refuse to let go of hope when there is nowhere left to turn.
SYNOPSIS
In a small village on Korea’s southern coast, fisherman Gomchi sets sail with confidence upon hearing that the sea is teeming with white croakers.
At last, he fulfills his lifelong dream—returning with a full load.
But his triumph is fleeting. His entire catch is seized to repay mounting debts, and the ship’s owner, Lim Je-soon, refuses to lend him another vessel until every last coin is paid.
Worn out by poverty and uncertainty, Gomchi’s wife urges him to leave the sea behind and start anew. Yet Gomchi heads into the roaring waves once more—this time with his son.
Directed by Shim Jae-chan
Shim Jae-chan conveys human nature through realistic expressions and insightful interpretations. He worked as an assistant director for a number of Korea’s first-generation directors including Lee Won-kyung, Cha Bumseok and Lim Young-woong before founding Theater Company Jeonmang in 1991. Since then, he has pursued his own unique approach to theater. His directorial credits include several plays that delve into human psychology (Onion, Thus Have I Heard, Uncle Vanya, and Ensemble), as well as the musicals Tick, Tick... Boom! and Urinetown. Some forty years after his introduction to the world of theater, Shim continues to work extensively across various genres, seeking new changes and engaging closely with the contemporary era.
Major Works
Plays: For You Who Are Adrift, Wolfsbane, Death of a Salesman, You in the Mirror, Song Like This, Thus Have I Heard, Onion, Goodnight, Mother, Here Comes Love, Agarwood, Uncle Vanya, and Ensemble
Musicals: Tick, Tick... Boom! and Urinetown
Selected Awards
2022 Bogwan Order of Cultural Merit
2003 Korea Musical Awards Best Foreign Musical (Urinetown)
2002 Best 7 Plays of the Year (Onion)
1991 Baeksang Awards Best New Director
Written by Chon Seung Sei
Chon Seung Sei made his literary debut in 1958 by winning the Dong-A Ilbo New Writer’s Contest with his short story “Jeomrye and the Ox.” In 1964, his play Catalyst won the Kyunghyang Daily New Writers’ Award. The same year saw him win the playwriting competition hosted by the National Theater Company of Korea for his play Manseon. The play went on to earn him the 1st Korean Theater and Film Arts Awards (now known as Baeksang Arts Awards). He is widely known for his concise and popular writing style, not to mention his use of symbolic yet elegant narrative structure, which allows him to address systematic problems of society.
Major Works
Fiction: The Yellow Dog’s Yelp, Master Archer, Hyeja’s Snow Flowers, There Are Only Dream Ways, Birds Migrating Across the Four Seasons
Plays: Catalyst, Manseon
Awards
1989 1st Korea Writers’ Association Freedom Literature Prize (Manseon)
1982 4th Seongok Culture Prize, Grand Prize for Arts
1975 Manhae Prize for Literature
1965 1st Korean Theater and Film Arts Awards
1964 The Kyunghyang Daily New Writers’ Award
1958 The Dong-A Ilbo New Writer’s Contest
