Korea's eldest stars return to the stage, passion still burning

After decades in the same craft, a good artist inevitably leaves a mark -- inspiring colleagues, shaping younger generations and quietly altering the culture of their field. For a well-known actor, that influence can be especially visible. Still, it is something else entirely when a director writes a play with one specific actor in mind, builds a production around him and brings together a cast who say they joined because of him.

This is where Shin Gu stands today. At 89, he is now the oldest active stage actor in Korea, following the death of his longtime senior colleague Lee Soon-jae.

“Now that Lee (Soon-jae) is gone, I find there’s no one left ahead of me, and that is deeply regrettable. But I am still alive, still breathing, so I just keep doing what I have always done. Acting is like eating. It’s simply part of living for me,” Shin said Tuesday at a press conference for Jang Jin’s new play “The French Vault: Who Shall Scale the Northern Wall.”

The late-night caper follows five characters plotting to crack a safe in pursuit of their own desires. Shin plays the Blind Man, a legendary safecracker.

In many ways, the play exists because of Shin and for Shin.

Jang said he was shaken after watching Shin in “Waiting for Godot” last May.

“It was so good it gave me chills. I kept thinking, ‘Why have I never worked with this man in my own play?’ I felt an overwhelming creative urge all at once."

Cast members pointed to Shin as their reason for joining the project.

Jang Hyun-sung, playing the Professor, said that rehearsing with Shin has been emotionally overwhelming at times. “At my age, you don’t get many chances to act alongside seniors like (Shin) anymore. Every time I watch him, I think, ‘Ah, this is what acting is,’ and I find myself learning all over again.”

Shin, for his part, admitted the decision was not easy.

“The script was so funny, and the thought of someone else doing it made me rush into accepting the role, though perhaps I agreed too quickly,” Shin said. “My body doesn’t move the way my mind wants anymore. Memorizing lines is hard. I don’t know why aging does this to you. Still, I will do my best.”

Jang pushed back gently against Shin’s self-criticism, saying Shin’s standards are extraordinarily high.

“(Shin) texted me that this work is ‘the reason he is alive.’ I am trying to honor that sincerity. I hope this will be just one of many works Shin will continue to do.”

This winter-spring season, Shin is not the only familiar face returning to the theater.

Veteran actors in their 80s, long known through television and film, have been steadily reappearing. Many of them debuted on stage in their youth and are now finding their way back, bringing with them nearly six decades of experience combined with undiminished passion that have drawn audiences of multiple generations back into the playhouse.

In “Dreams of Age” (through March 22, LG Arts Center), the character Chun-ae is shared by three actresses: Kim Young-ok, 88, Kim Yong-rim, 85 and Son Sook, 81.

The heartwarming play follows Bom-hee, who runs a small art academy, and her encounter with Chun-ae, who wants to paint her own memorial portrait before she dies. Their lessons unfold alongside a fraught family drama between Bom-hee and her stepdaughter.

At a press conference in January, Son noted that among the three actresses playing Chun-ae, she is the youngest, but she also spoke candidly about aging.

“It’s a sad thing, but my eyesight has worsened. For the past few years, I’ve been memorizing scripts by listening to recordings rather than reading them.”

Kim Young-ok called the role deeply personal.

"I’m treating this as my final stage, and I will do my very best to leave something meaningful with the audience," she said.

Park Geun-hyung, 85, is currently appearing in "The Dresser," which runs through March 1 at the National Theater of Korea.

Written by Ronald Harwood, the play, set in wartime England in 1942, centers on a regional company struggling to stage "King Lear" as its aging lead actor falters and air raids threaten the production. Park takes on the role of the aging lead actor, Sir.

“As I get older, I feel like there are more things I’ve missed and more things I still want to do, so I end up living busier than ever," said Park at a press conference in December.

“'The Dresser' is a play that deals with the very human anguish of old age and the desire to leave something behind,” he added.

Old age has fueled not only their passion for the stage, but also their commitment to the younger generation.

Park and Shin joined forces with Arts Council Korea to support emerging theater artists by donating the proceeds from their production of “Waiting for Godot.” The funds launched the Theater Tomorrow Project, a four-month incubation program for emerging actors that will culminate in three new productions in April.