“I'll figure out why. While catching clams out on the mudflats

and walking up and down on the new road, I will ponder."

Even the ocean rushed in to swallow them up whole.

A completely hopeless and inescapable tragedy of the age!

The husband, a former fisherman, lost his leg by a shark, and the first son and the eldest son-in-law drowned at sea during a furious storm. The insane wife of the old fisherman is desperately waiting for her second son, Bok-jo, to return home who had disappeared in the violent storm. This is the story of a family during the Japanese colonial period who lived on a mountainside which was both their home and a place of desperate survival. The author asks the audience the reason for the tragedy of those who had no choice but to suffer through abject poverty and life of misery. In this day and age of abundance and material prosperity, yet struggling against enormous power, we will face the exact same question while being overwhelmed by something more than mere sorrow: "Why must we struggle in tears day after day, night after night?"

Ham Sedeok, a genius writer who has been forgotten over time

His very first play meets Director Koh Sunwoong to create another history

Before the liberation of Korea, there was Ham Sedeok, a writer who led the modern Korean drama with Yu Chi-jin. His first work <Sanhuguli-Mountainside> (presented in 1936) is presented on the stage of NTCK for the first time. Using raw, vivid language and reflecting his exceptional sense of lyricism in a solid storyline, Ham wished to fully convey to the audience his own particular view of reality and alternative solutions. And his wish is coming true through Director Koh Sunwoong who has an exquisite understanding of those times. As one of the most acclaimed directors, Koh is challenged with the task of delivering a realistic play in a realistic stage which will stimulate your senses of sight, hearing and smell using old dialects in their original form. With the immense energy this drama carries, his rises to the challenge of taking us all to the mountainside near a little port on the west coast in the 1930's, setting another milestone in the history of Korean drama.

Synopsis

A small neighborhood in the west coast. An old fisherman and his family on a stormy night. Ever since he lost his leg from a shark attack while fishing, the old fisherman has been spending his days drinking away. His wife, whose first son and the oldest son-in-law had drowned at sea, has gone insane and anxiously awaits her second son, Bok-jo, to return, as it has been several days since his boat went missing. Her oldest daughter and the mother of Bun, who is making ends meet by stealing since she lost her husband, and the second daughter, Bok-shil, and the third son, Seok-yi, look at their mother with so much pity and in earnest hope for the safe return of Bok-jo who was the breadwinner of the family. However, a fisherman who barely survived the storm comes back and informs the family of the death of Bok-jo, leaving everyone utterly heartbroken. His body is found and brought to the family by the villagers, yet the insane mother refuses to accept her son's death and wanders around the entire village. Seok-yi, the youngest son, begins to mull over the cause of the fateful tragedy that has brought endless grief and agony to his family.