연극<젤리피쉬> — Play <Jellyfish>
<Jellyfish> speaks of disability, yet makes you forget it. In an era where difference is read as fault and division wounds the heart, this is a play that goes far beyond the question of disability — a production that everyone should reflect on.
Jellyfish confronts head-on the ‘instincts’ and honest emotions of people with disabilities that we have too often turned away from — and in particular, the feelings of love that people with disabilities naturally experience, just as anyone would.
The play portrays, with calm and warmth, the process of recognising and accepting that people with disabilities are born, grow, feel the same emotions, and undergo the same changes as everyone else. Through Kelly’s forthright love, we hope audiences will find it easier to empathise more deeply with people with disabilities and their lived experiences.
The Korean production began as a development workshop, progressed to a full premiere, and then to an invited run at Myeongdong Arts Theater. It is now expanding into a national regional tour. The goal was to share with the performing arts community the creative, technical and social challenges encountered in producing this work within a social and institutional environment quite different from the original. We hope that the bold failures and discoveries made along the way become assets for future work.
The jury of the 62nd Dong-A Theatre Awards described it as “a fine work in which audiences were not compelled but naturally drawn in — one that invites reflection on coexistence and the goodness of humanity, with direction and performance in seamless harmony.” This marks the first time in history that a single production has swept Korea’s two most prestigious theatre honors — the Dong-A Theatre Awards and the Baeksang Arts Awards — in the same season. The recognition this production has received goes beyond the evaluation of a single work; it is nothing less than an official declaration of new possibilities for disability arts in Korea.
Synopsis
Kelly, a 27-year-old woman with Down syndrome, meets Neil, who works at a seaside arcade, and falls in love. But Kelly’s mother Agnes watches her daughter’s new romance with unease — it is not easy to accept the love her disabled daughter has chosen, nor the changes it may bring to their lives.
Jellyfish portrays, with warmth and wit, the right to independence and self-determination for a person with a disability, and the pain carried by everyone in that relationship. Kelly is not simply gentle or virtuous; she is a fully rounded character… She tells jokes, and gives the people around her quite a hard time. This play does not regard disability as something to be overcome or pitied. It is a drama in which every character — including the disabled protagonist — exists with their own story and their own wounds.
Does everyone truly have the right to love as they choose? The play poses this question with both lightness and weight, offering audiences the experience of thinking for themselves through empathy.