What is it between Winter and Spring?This winter was exceptionally cold and Seoul even issued the first cold wave watch in five years. However, as time went by, winter passed and spring has come. The chilly gusts of wind have turned into a flowery breeze and the bare branches have begun to bud. The transition from winter to spring is dramatic like magic and all it needs is just a little time. However, the economic depression and atrocious crimes also make the cold wind blow and forms ice in people’s heart. What do we need to make their frozen minds melt? Can time solve everything also? If you are between winter and spring and eager to have spring in your heart, then take note of this play. Last winter vacation, the theater department of Chung-ang University staged a play for the spring season named ‘Between Winter and Spring’ at the Hyehwa studio, Space 1959.1. About the Original The play ‘Between Winter and Spring’ is a play adapted from the original, ‘Lost in Yonkers’, by Neil Simon. He is one of the most successful play writers on Broadway. A father who was a ladies’ man, and a very strict mother brought him up. In addition, they were so poor that they had to live together with his cousins in a small house. Although he spent an unhappy childhood objectively, he developed a warm-hearted point of view for human beings through the relationships he had in his youth. After graduating from college, he began to write many plays, which made the audience laugh and cry. The Play ‘Lost in Yonkers’ led to his Pulitzer Prize in 1991. In South Korea, it was translated into the play called ‘Give Me Love’. The play’s story is about Jay and Artie who arrive at a strict grandmother’s house located in Yonkers, and they start to understand more about their abnormal relatives, such as an aunt who has a mental disorder and an uncle who is a gang member. 2. Applause for the Students1) The ActingThe acting is a really important point for a perfect play. The actors who played the brothers, Jay and Artie who haven’t met each other for 15 years, performed excellently. Their acting was good enough to make the audience empathize with the characters. In addition, when they flash back to their childhoods and show how they produced misunderstandings about each other, their acting was so good because he helped the audience understand why they have their current views now. The other actors who took the roles of Eddie, Bella, Louie and the grandmother were also incredible. Thanks to their realistic acting, the theme of the play, which was love of family, could reach people. 2) Stage Management & MusicThe effect of stage management and music is also a very important factor for people’s concentration during a play. Although the theater didn’t have a huge stage set and had only a brief time for the preparation of the next scene, the students were able to create the proper atmosphere of each scene with just simple stage equipment such as doors, a sofa and a little railroad. In addition, the background songs which were played in each scene, gave such a strong impression that the scene still lingered in people’s minds even during the intervals for the next scene. 3) Efforts of the StudentsOne hour is not a short time to sit on a small chair and concentrate on something. What is the secret that makes the audience fall into the play for one hour sitting on an uncomfortable chair? That is the effort of the students who spent all winter vacation preparing and practicing for this play. Their attitudes toward the play were quite serious even from the rehearsal. From their professional attitude, we could see their passion and affection for their performance. It is not only because they want to make their efforts worthy, but they also want to give faith and trust to the audience that they can do it. 3. Interview with Ko Da-yeon, Student of Theater Department 1) Why did you choose ‘Lost in Yonkers’ for the play?There is a line of Eddie, the father, ‘I am always chased by the hands of a clock’ from the original play named ‘Give Me Love’. When I first read this line, it reminded me of my parents and it made me cry a lot at dawn. Although I had to remove the line because of adapting the story, I chose this work because I was fascinated by it. 2) What was the best and hardest part of making this play?Writing a complete script with coherent story is the most difficult part because I created the greater part of the story based on the original play. It would be like making a new story. On the other hand, the good thing about this work is that I can work with nice people including actors, stage managers, and designers. It is such a pleasure working with them. 3) What do you hope the audience will feel when they watch the play?People are often hurt and feel like a victim in relationships. However, I hope the audience think about it in this way that what goes around comes around. People can offend you and at the same time, you can also hurt them accidentally. I want the audience to live without regrets in relationships keeping it in mind. 4. The Power Which Melts Snow: The Love of FamilyAt the beginning of the article, we had a question. What is needed to make winter change into spring in people’s minds? The play ‘Between Winter and Spring’ answers the question. The answer is familial love, which many people take for granted. However, it does not exist among family members naturally. The play reminds people of this truth. In the play, at first, the members of the family remain at odds with each other. Love among a family is a result of efforts to understand each other, and a result of many choices of all of the family members. In other words, melting deep snow and welcoming spring are a matter of personal choices. You may be in trouble with your parents and other family members. You may also be depressed because your family is different from other’s harmonious families and you may be envious of them. However, every family has its own problems no matter how peaceful they seem. The only difference is that, whether people just let the problem pass by or have a talk and try to solve it. If you sweep the snow with a broom, you can make spring come for your family. Various types of love exist, such as the love between a man and woman, parents and children, and friendship. Although it is hard to evaluate which one is more important among these kinds of love, if you pick one of them as the closest to a perfect love, you will choose ‘the love among family members’. However, it is not a thing you can gain without effort. We should respect each family member and take care of him or her because they are our biggest fans that always support us. Thanks to Chung-ang University’s Theater Department students for giving us a chance to think about how important family is.
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