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Seoul Shakespeare Company provides a much needed community for theater-loving expats

Published: 13 Apr. 2026, 13:28 Updated: 13 Apr. 2026, 18:42

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

Actor Jamie Horan as Petruchio, left, and actor Muireann Ni Raghallaigh as Katherina in ″The Taming of the Shrew,″ a production by the Seoul Shakespeare Company [BRET LINDQUIST]

Theater lovers need not go all the way to the West End or Broadway to catch a play by Shakespeare — Seoul has its own theater group, the Seoul Shakespeare Company, putting on the bard’s classics right in the heart of the city. With a new production of “The Taming of the Shrew” opening at the Dari Theater in Hongdae, western Seoul, on Saturday, the group hopes to break a leg many times.

The Seoul Shakespeare Company, a volunteer-run nonprofit founded in 2010 under the name Actors Without Bard’ers, has a total of 27 members, 15 of whom are actors. The company is one of just three English-language troupes in Seoul that regularly puts on shows.

“We focus on [putting on] one show a year,” said Jason Lane Cutler, the managing director of the Seoul Shakespeare Company, to the Korea JoongAng Daily on Sunday, when he and other members of the group were gathered at the theater for a dress rehearsal. In recent years, the company has performed many of Shakespeare’s iconic works, including “Romeo and Juliet,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “King Lear.”

“[The company] is all volunteer-based,” said Cutler. “When we started, 90 percent of the audience was foreign. Now we market [our shows] in two languages, sell tickets on Naver and have a much larger Korean audience.”

To accommodate Korean theatergoers who may not be fluent in English, the Seoul Shakespeare Company provides Korean subtitles translated by the company during the shows.

“As a Korean, I found the concept of community theater very interesting because it doesn’t really exist here,” said Charles Joongwon Jeong, the artistic director of the company. “It’s not about profit but about giving people a chance to connect and express themselves. That’s what [theater] is really about.”

Other members agreed with Jeong’s assessment regarding the rare and meaningful opportunity that the company presents to the expat community in Seoul.

Cast members of ″The Taming of the Shrew,″ a production by the Seoul Shakespeare Company, are seen during rehearsals for the play. [BRET LINDQUIST]

“The Seoul Shakespeare Company is a tale of two communities,” said Bret Lindquist, an actor and photographer. “The company attracts interesting people and high-quality talent, and [we] become friends while pushing each other [to test and expand our limits]. Then there’s the wider foreign community, [in which] people feel lonely and are looking for connection. The nice thing is that this [company] is very inclusive and actively looking for new people.”

Amie Ko, the lighting designer of the company, echoed the feeling that the company has served as a refuge for foreigners who felt secluded and yearned for a sense of belonging.

“I moved to Korea in 2020 and was socially deprived because of [the Covid-19 pandemic],” she said. “I also felt like I was missing my theater [community] because I’ve done theater since middle school. I was scrolling through Reddit and saw that [the company was] advertising auditions, so I emailed them with my story and résumé.”

Actor Jonathan Tommy as Tranio, left, and actor Mark Dorman as Gremio in ″The Taming of the Shrew,″ a production by the Seoul Shakespeare Company [BRET LINDQUIST]

The sheer amount of time, energy and commitment that each member of the Seoul Shakespeare Company devotes to a production is astounding, as all members have other responsibilities.

“We’re doing this in our own free time,” said Jamie Horan, who plays Petruchio in “The Taming of the Shrew.” “[Being a part of the company] wipes out your weekends and a lot of your energy. But it’s worth it because you’re part of something bigger. That’s why we keep doing it.”

“Everybody who participates has to put so much energy into it,” said Lindquist. “You talk to one person and ask how much [effort] they put into it, and it’s astronomical. It’s way more than it should be, but because it’s a company, it works. That level of commitment is what keeps it alive.”

This passion is embodied in a particular crew member: costume designer Keri-Anne Ji — called the “hero” and “life savior” among her colleagues — who teaches English at schools as her regular job, went on trips to Dongdaemun to scout for fabric and other materials to use for costumes and spent three days a week, often late into the night or even into the morning, sewing with her team.

A poster for ″The Taming of the Shrew,″ a production by the Seoul Shakespeare Company [SEOUL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY]

For “The Taming of the Shrew,” one of Shakespeare’s more controversial plays due to its antiquated view of gender roles, the Seoul group’s goal for the production was not to reinterpret the work or assign an agenda but instead to stay true to the text while still offering a nuanced perspective through its acting.

“The first time I read [‘The Taming of the Shrew’], I thought, ‘This is sexist,’ but when I saw a production that played it straight, I realized it could actually work,” said Cutler. “If you don’t draw attention to fixing [the text] and just let it play honestly, it becomes funny and engaging. The key is that the characters have to be in love.”

Actor Jonathan Tommy as Tranio, left, and actor Torin Horvik as Bianca in ″The Taming of the Shrew,″ a production by the Seoul Shakespeare Company [CHARLIE WRIGHT/MELINA WRIGHT]

Horan and Muireann Ní Raghallaigh, who play Katherina Minola in “The Taming of the Shrew,” had their own take on their character.

“To play Petruchio in broad strokes is boring and cruel,” said Horan. “I see him as someone figuring things out as he goes along, someone who loves Katherina but also needs to be tamed himself. Through that process, he shows her she doesn’t have to stay in one box. They recognize themselves in each other.”

“Something I like to do as an actor is if something looks obvious on the page, it’s exciting to play the opposite,” said Ní Raghallaigh. “The production is trying to focus more on people accepting each other. We’ve been playing it as two people who can’t speak each other’s language [but are] learning how to communicate. It’s more about them finding each other’s level and not caring about society.”

A completely volunteer-run production at the professional level doesn’t come without challenges. For the technical team, translating and coordinating Korean subtitles requires hours of practice and the ability to improvise, and while most of the cast and crew would like to put on more than one production per year, there are limits in personnel and time.

Cast members of ″The Taming of the Shrew,″ a production by the Seoul Shakespeare Company, are seen during rehearsals for the play. [CHARLIE WRIGHT/MELINA WRIGHT]

“To grow, we would have to do more productions, but since we’re all doing this in our free time, it’s difficult,” said Horan. “It’s a bit of a catch-22. We want to expand, but we’re limited by time and energy.”

“My whole purpose is just to exist and keep the company going,” said Jeong. “We joke that this could be the last production if we don’t make enough money. Ticket sales matter because that’s how we fund everything. Without that, we can’t continue.”

“The Taming of the Shrew” runs for three weeks at Dari Theater in Hongdae, starting from Saturday, with shows taking place twice on Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and once on Sundays at 3 p.m. until May 3. The running time is 130 minutes with an intermission. Tickets can be purchased on Naver or through a form on the company’s website at 25,000 won ($17), with a discounted price of 20,000 won offered for the opening performance.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]