The Camellia Blossoms

A Cheerful Rustic Romance

About the Play

What if the characters from four of Kim Yu-jeong’s celebrated short stories—“Spring, Spring,” “Mountain Village,” “The Bachelor and the Toad,” and “The Camellia Blossoms”—all lived together in a secluded mountain village in Gangwon Province? Born from this imaginative premise, the earthy, rustic originals are swept up in a warm spring breeze and brought vividly to life on stage as a delightful, humorous play.

“So what exactly is it I’m not supposed to be doing?”

Synopsis

A naive young farmhand who knows nothing but work, and Jeom-sun, the feisty village girl who fancies him. Jeom-sun secretly offers him freshly steamed potatoes straight from her heart, but the oblivious boy bluntly turns her down. Spiteful and peeved, Jeom-sun starts picking fights with his rooster, prompting the boy to train his bird with a fiery secret weapon: red chili paste! Will Jeom-sun overcome their class divide and the boy’s hopeless cluelessness to finally win his love?

Highlights

A Feast of Gangwon Dialect Delivering the rich, down-home charm that captivated viewers in hit films like Welcome to Dongmakgol and My Teacher, Mr. Kim, this production brings the delightful cadence and authentic humor of Gangwon regional dialect alive on stage.

Rediscovering Emotional Yeonhui Theatre Blending dynamic modumbuk (traditional drum ensemble) rhythms, expressive vocal styles (tori), and colorful Arirang folk tunes from across the nation, this lyrical traditional performance (yeonhui-geuk) carries on Theatre Troupe Arirang’s acclaimed lineage of masterworks, such as Jeoma Jeoma Kongjeoma and The Jeong Yak-yong Project.