The VerdictReviews: Read What Critics Think of the World Premiere of Once Upon a (Korean) Time
Ma-Yi Theater Company presents the new work by Daniel K. Isaac, which opened at La MaMa August 31.
By
Leah Putnam
September 01, 2022
Reviews are in for Daniel K. Isaac’s Once Upon a (Korean) Time, a world premiere play currently running at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theatre. The Ma-Yi Theater Company production began previews August 23, opened August 31, and is set to run through September 18.
Isaac's playwriting debut combines traditional Korean fables with the horrors of the Korean War, creating a theatrical analog for experiences of the Korean American diaspora. Set across swathes of time, the play traces inherited trauma through generations—and the methods each one uses to manage it.
Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
Starring in the cast are Sonnie Brown, Sasha Diamond, David Lee Huynh, Teresa Avia Lim, Jon Norman Schneider, David Shih, and Jillian Sun with Daniel K. Isaac and Sami Ma as understudies.
Obie-winner Ralph B. Peña directs, helming the creative team which features scenic designer Se Oh, costume designer Phuong Nguyen, lighting designer Oliver Wason, projection designer Yee Eun Nam, sound designer Fabian Obispo, and props designer Alexander Wylie. Alyssa K. Howard serves as production stage manager.
The production is part of the Off-Broadway company's Friel Project, presenting four of playwright Brian Friel's plays set in the fictional town of Ballybeg.
The Hunt is the second adaptation of a Thomas Vinterberg work presented by St. Ann’s Warehouse, following its 2012 U.S. premiere of Grzegorz Jarzyna’s Festen.