Two big-budget productions based on Anton Chekhov’s play “Uncle Vanya” will go head-to-head on Seoul stages in May, with the National Theater Company of Korea and LG Arts Center each unveiling a new version. The source material is the same, but the two productions signal different approaches, starting with their titles.
According to the theater community, the National Theater Company of Korea will present “Banya Ajae,” while LG Arts Center will stage “Uncle Vanya.”
Both will be mounted in large venues with more than 1,000 seats, a rare “major production” matchup in Korean theater. Their runs overlap: “Banya Ajae” is scheduled for May 22-31, and “Uncle Vanya” for May 7-31.
In “Banya Ajae,” Cho Seong-ha plays Vanya (Park I-bo), and Shim Eun-kyung plays Sonya (Seo Eun-hee). In LG Arts Center’s “Uncle Vanya,” Lee Seo-jin plays Vanya and Go Ah-sung plays Sonya.
The split in naming — “ajae,” a colloquial term akin to “middle-aged guy,” versus “uncle” — reflects how the directors view the character. “Banya Ajae” director Cho Kwang-hwa said he saw himself in Vanya, while Son Sang-gyu, who leads “Uncle Vanya,” said the character reminded him of his father. Cho was born in 1965 and Son in 1977, a difference that may shape their perspectives.
Cho has said he once preferred works with solemn, lofty ideas and disliked Chekhov’s focus on ordinary people. As he grew older, he said, his view changed. Through Vanya, he began thinking of “the uncles around us now,” and Chekhov’s everyday life felt like his own story. He emphasized the term “ajae,” aiming for a Korean-inflected adaptation that audiences can relate to without barriers and find comfort in.
Son said Vanya’s grumbling sense of duty — and the anger that finally breaks through — overlapped with his image of his father. He said that helped inform his casting of Lee, whose public persona includes complaining while still seeing tasks through to the end.
At a recent production presentation, Son said, “My father worked late and retired. Because he had to support the family, he used to say, ‘I’ve never even been able to take a trip,’” adding, “Who can casually judge a life like that?” Son said he wondered whether people, like trees accepted as they are, could at least be more generous about their own lives.
Son said he focused on the relationship between Uncle Vanya and his niece Sonya, choosing “uncle” rather than “mister” for the title. An LG Arts Center official said the production would aim for universality while delivering a modern, minimalist mise-en-scene.
Some in the theater world are also framing the pairing as a contest between experience and novelty. Cho is known as a veteran director who has worked across musicals and plays. Son is a newer director who debuted with the 2024 play “The Lives of Others,” and “Uncle Vanya” will be his first production in a large theater.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.