★★★★★

Winner of Excellence Award, Best Actor, Best New Actor, and Best Set Design

The 42nd Seoul Theater Festival

“A compelling presentation of the butterfly effect of suspicion and its catastrophic outcome.”

• Seoul Theater Festival Jury’s Comments-

Together with Vaeda Theatre Company, the NTCK presents Thomas H. Cook’s Red Leaves—directed by Lee Jun Woo and adapted by Kim Do Young—to audiences in Korea. The winner of multiple awards at this year’s Seoul Theater Festival, including Excellence Award, the production has garnered praise from both critics and audiences alike for its delicate depiction of the way an ordinary family gets enmeshed in the disappearance of a child and then gradually disintegrates. As puzzle pieces fall into place one by one in the midst of the incessant pursuit of the hidden truth, the question remains as to how closely they bring us to the truth.

Synopsis

In the quiet town of Wesley in the United States, Eric’s family enjoys peaceful autumn days. One day, their neighbour Karen’s daughter, Amy, goes missing. Eric’s son, Jimmy, who babysat the little girl the night before her disappearance, is a prime suspect. Amidst the rising tension between faith and doubt, Eric’s family succumbs to the ominous tides of red leaves. Who is responsible for Amy’s disappearance?

Written by Thomas H. Cook

Thomas H. Cook received a BA in English literature and Philosophy from Georgia State College before studying history at City University of New York and Columbia University. After finishing his studies, he settled down in New York, where he worked  as an advertising executive for U.S. Industrial Chemicals, and then as a typist for the Arc of the United States . However, he simply could not give up his dream of becoming a novelist, and so returned to Georgia to write and teach English and history at college. While working as an editor for The Atlantic Monthly in 1980, Cook published his Edgar Award–nominated debut novel, Blood Innocents, which allowed him to become a full-time writer. Since then, he has published a total of twenty-six titles including two crime non-fiction books. Many of his works scrutinizing the dark side of the human soul have been nominated for numerous detective literature awards. In 1996, he won an Edgar Award for The Chatham School Affair, thereby establishing himself as a world-renowned writer. His works have been translated into fifteen languages. Cook is hailed as a genius writer with both intellect and sensibility, whose night visions seen through a dark lens captivate readers worldwide.

Adapted by Kim Do Young

Kim Do Young sees writing as a way of recovering and restoring life, and takes one step forward at a time. These days, she ruminates on writing or attitudes that may dispel obsession and anguish.

Directed by Lee Jun Woo (CEO of Vaeda Theatre Company)

In 2017, Lee Jun Woo founded Vaeda Theatre Company, and began his career as a theater director. His works set against the backdrop of the history of East Asia explore humanity and relationships.

Vaeda Theatre Company

Based on the belief that history is not simply a relic of the past, but a link between the past and the present, Vaeda Theatre Company searches for the key to achieving harmony for future generations.