Do Not Cry, Shim Cheong

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Do Not Cry, Shim Cheong

Published: 10 Sep. 2025, 00:05

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Kim Myung-hwa

The author is a playwright and director.

I remember bursting into tears while reading “Simcheongga,” a classic pansori (traditional Korean musical) tale. It was the moment when Lady Kwak gives birth to Shim Cheong and dies. I had not realized I carried so much grief inside. Sitting in a crowded cafe, I could not hold back the sobs. When the tears subsided, I wondered if many had turned to “Simcheongga” in the same way, using the story as a vessel for their sorrow.

A classic can serve as an archetype. In Korean culture, where the very word “han” arose to describe deep resentment and grief, audiences have long sought out characters who embody greater suffering yet remain good-hearted. Through them, people found comfort and a way to release their own suppressed anguish.

The 24th Jeonju International Sori Festival opened on August 13. The photo shows a scene from the opening performance, “Shimcheong” by the National Changgeuk Company, a reinterpretation of the pansori classic “Simcheongga.” Co-produced with the National Theater of Korea, the work departs from the traditional focus on filial piety to portray Shimcheong as a figure representing all the oppressed who were denied their own voice and power. [JEONJU INTERNATIONAL SORI FESTIVAL]

But empathy alone cannot change history. That is why Choi In-hoon, best known for his novel “The Square” (1960), turned to parody. In his play “Dal-a Dal-a Balgeun Dal-a” (1970), written during the Yushin era, he reimagined “Simcheongga.” Shim Cheong was no longer a willing martyr but a woman violated by powerful men — a metaphor for a nation trapped in a cycle of domination. The work reflected a history in which the public square never seemed to arrive.

Half a century has passed. The public square Choi yearned for is now part of daily life, with politics spilling directly onto the streets. Yet the question remains: Is Shim Cheong happy in this square?

A recent production by the National Changgeuk Company, “Shimcheong,” directed by Yona Kim, revisited the tale through a starkly modern lens. Kim, who has worked in German theater, staged a grotesque drama of collective guilt reminiscent of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s “The Visit” (1956). Her adaptation emphasized Shim Cheong as a victim of male-dominated structures, multiplying her into groups of women and staging repeated cycles of victimhood and violence. The effect divided audiences, with some unsettled by the relentless binary of oppressor and oppressed.

Art sometimes transcends aesthetics and becomes prophecy. Beyond the theater, reality is filled with noise stirred by today’s Shim Cheongs. Even in the square, many find themselves reduced to objects rather than subjects. When they speak up, they risk being dismissed or insulted. Watching such scenes unfold again and again, one feels that Shim Cheong’s tearstained eyes will never truly dry.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.