총 36페이지

Review
27
sametemptations.Whatifyouhappenedtobefallinginlovewithasexy
live a standard life while pursuing his passion
and attractive lady and you are a married man? How about polygamy?
for theater and provide financial security to
Howaboutcheatingonyourwifeforayoungbutdizzyblondesecretary?
ordinary theater people in order to escape from
The names of the game are money and women. This logic running
worriesoverchoosinglifeorplay.
throughthefarcereflectshowinthissecularsociety,shrewdpeoplewho
Asonceaconservativetheaterstudent,Ryualso
do not bother to penetrate the truth by losing by rational perspective to
hashesitatedseveraltimesindirecting“Liar”while
distinguishtruthfromlie,arenotsoshrewdafterall.
emphasizing on the motions, abstract meanings,
dramas,andpoeticsidesoftheatricalwork.However,
“Liar,Liar””CaughttheEyesofKoreansatFirstSight:
finding the overwhelming response of laughs and
DoesEntertainingTainttheWorldofTheater?
excitement from audience has enlightened her to core
Since 1999, the Papa Production has introduced the series of Ray
valueoftheater,entertainment.Cooney’sworksarenot
Cooney’splaysof“RunforYourWife,”“CaughtintheNet,”and“Funny
onlyhavingaudiencesrollingintheaisles,butalsousing
Money”in Korea after a successful run of eleven years by breaking the
polygamyandhomosexualitytogetpeoplelaughing.Ryu
recordofthelongestrunningplaysatWestEndinLondon.Renamingthe
concludes that Cooney does not intend to push his
playsinKoreanversions,aseriesof“Liar1,”“Liar2,”and“Liar3”have
audiences to judge right and wrong over controversial
earned the title of what people describe“Gukmin Younguk”meaning
issues. Rather, he wishes to widen their eyes by showing
everyKoreans’favoriteplay.RyuHyun-mi,thedirectorof“Liar1:Run
them taboos in hilarious material, especially considering the
periodwhenhismostbelovedfarce,“RunforYourWife,”first
for Your Wife”points out several studies and the proper adaption of
language by players and directors have marveled“Liars”into
played back in 1983 in London where the issues of sexual
comprehensibleKoreanplays.ThePapa’swellarrangedKoreanversion
innuendoimpliedsurelyraisedcontroversies.
of Ray Cooney’s wit and innuendos has changed the stereotypes of the
BetheGuesttoShoreupVulnerableKorean
play,notoriousfortheirdullandpuzzlingsides,intoentertainingplaysthat
have gained much popularity with Korean audiences. Even though the
Theaters
storiesoriginatedinBritain,Ryucomplimentsculturaluniversalityfound
Far from being ordinary people’s favorite pastime, especially in
in Cooney’s ordinary characters and their agonies convinced Korean
Koreansociety,goingtoplayshasneverbeenpopular.However,not
audiences.
manyplayscancompetewithRayCooney’sfarces.Cooney’splays
Whilethepublicwarmstothewitof“Liar,”theplayersdonotalways
erase the fear of the audience of abstract and esoteric plays and
get a big hand of applause, especially from other theatrical people who
entertains them with laughter. At the same time, his plays give them
persist on the superiority of“Jeontonggugk,”referring to classical plays
insightintotheirownlives.Throughtheseplays,thePapaProductionsis
suchasHamletandEquus.Ryuconfessesreceivingcriticismfromothers
nurturing a budding Korean theater by getting their audiences to look
devaluing the“Liar”series for meeting the audiences’taste and being
forwardtocomingbackformore.
commercialized. Probably, they are right to accuse Ray Cooney’s farce
Beyond all these words, forget what is written here and just find out
deliveringnomessagestoenlightenaudiencesandsatirizeoverthefraud
howmuchyoucanlaughatothers’tragedieswiththeirliesinwhatRyu
describesas“CatharsisofTears.”Thelessonofthiscatharsisisthatyou
of authority and riches. However, a show for nothing, as Ryu describes,
“Liar”does not forget the innate nature of the play -- entertainment. For
will learn when a lie starts, a disastrous struggle will put you in a worse
sure,“Liar”wouldnotplayapropagandamediaexistingincommunists’
place.
totalitarianregimewhereartistsareforcedtoeducatepeople.Lee,Hyun-
rona@hufs.ac.kr
gyu, founder of the Papa Production, has agonized to figure out how to
tip
Whatisfarce?
RayCooney,O.B.E(OfficeroftheMostExcellentOrderoftheBritishEmpire)
Online Britannica defines a farce as a comic dramatic piece that uses highly improbable situations, stereotypical
characters,extravagantexaggeration,andviolenthorseplay.Thetermalsoreferstotheclassorformofdramamadeup
of such compositions. Farce is generally regarded as intellectually and aesthetically inferior to comedy in its crude
characterizations and implausible plots, but it has been sustained by its popularity in performance and has persisted
throughouttheWesternworldtothepresent.
APRIL 2009

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