Creation myths and family histories meld in a wildly theatrical, startling new comedy that explores what it means to walk the edge between cultures.The Fountain Theatre, in association with East West Players and with generous support form the S. Mark Taper Foundation, presents the California premiere of Hannah and the Dread Gazebo by Jiehae Park. Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Award-winner Jennifer Chang (Vietgone) directs for an Aug. 17 opening at the Fountain Theatre in East Hollywood, near Koreatown, where performances continue through Sept. 22.
Set in NYC and Korea in the winter of 2011, just before the death of Kim Jong Il, Hannah and the Dread Gazebo takes Hannah's Korean American family on a surreal, funny and heartbreaking adventure back to their roots in South and North Korea and the forbidden Demilitarized Zone that divides them."The play is a funny-tragic look at what it means to be caught in between," says Park. "The characters are striving to reconcile the contradictions of their immigrant lives: North/South, past/future, coming/going."Thirty-something Hannah, played by Monica Hong (Ivanov at the Mint Theater in NYC,Please Stand By at Actor's Playpen in LA), is two weeks away from becoming a board-certified neurologist when she receives a FedEx box from her grandmother with two things inside: a 100% bona-fide-heart's-desire-level wish - and a suicide note. Hannah's father (Hahn Cho, recently seen on TV in For the People, Magnum P.I., Swedish Dicks) and mother (Janet Song - Vendetta Chrome and Urinetown, the Musical at Coeurage Theatre,100 Aprils at Rogue Machine) have already moved back to South Korea to be near Grandma at the Sunrise Dewdrop Apartment City for Senior Living, which sits right on the edge of the DMZ. Meanwhile, Hannah's slacker brother, Dang (Gavin Lee, whose credits include Blood, written and directed by Robert Allan Ackerman, and a recurring role on Fox'sThe Orville) bonds over music with a student activist played by Wonjung Kim (Korea Musical Award for Best Actress, Ovation nominee for The Last Empress in L.A). In this strange and wonderful play that is a mix of unexpected whimsy, delightful comedy, profound despair and more than a little bit of magic, actress Jully Lee (Ladies at Boston Court, tokyofish story at South Coast Rep) appears in many forms.Photo Credit: Jenny Graham
Monica Hong and Janet Song
Wonjung Kim and Gavin Lee
Wonjung Kim and Gavin Lee
Janet Song
Hahn Cho, Gavin Lee, Monica Hong
Jully Lee and Monica Hong
Monica Hong
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