Tori and Mabelle talk with accomplished storyteller Hansol Jung about her jump from politics to theater. She shares her trajectory from translating plays into Korean, to an MFA in Musical Theater Directing (at Penn State), and then to another MFA in Playwriting (Yale School of Drama). She also shares about her experience collaborating on “Wolf Play” in the midst of the pandemic, and how it changed her artistic process. Other topics include Hansol’s new collaborative theater group (the Pack), reimagining collaboration, and The Kilroys.
Writing Prompt (courtesy of Hansol Jung via Dan LeFranc)
A Play on Dan LeFranc’s “Swimming” exercise. Here is a low stakes, easy to write exercise. Think of two things that don’t belong together. Put 10 minutes on the cl0ck. You can decide what you want to hold in your brain when you do this. Hansol likes to put things that don’t belong together and toggle between the two, and for 10 minutes she writes about why they don’t belong together. Put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, and don’t stop. If you feel like you’ve run out of things to say, write “What I mean to say is…” until you figure out what you mean to say. It helps you unlock things, become meditative and more articulate with your thoughts.
Hansol’s bio:
Hansol Jung is a South Korean translator and playwright. Jung is a recipient the Whiting Award in drama and three of her plays were listed on the 2015 Kilroys’ List. Jung is a member of the Ma-Yi Theater Writers’ Lab and was a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University. In addition to writing several plays, Jung has also written for the television series Tales Of the City.
Connect with Hansol:
IG: @chokkie
Check out video and stills from MCC Theater’s production of “Wolf Play,”: https://mcctheater.org/tix/wolf-play/
“Hell’s Kitchen,” written by friend of the pod, Kristoffer Diaz, is heading to Broadway!: https://www.hellskitchen.com/
Here’s a conversation with Susan Russell from Penn State: https://wpsu.psu.edu/tv/programs/conversations/susan-russell/
Going to Chicago? Check out The Understudy theatre bookstore and coffee shop: https://www.theunderstudy.com/