Cast Member Blog - 1001 - Wonsup Chung

Oh snap, Blogfriends! Things are really picking up speed at Arts Collective HQ. Not only do we have the incredible musical theatre revue, "On Broadway," coming up October 14-17 (Buy your tickets now! They're selling faster than "fleas on locusts, according to AC resident photographer Erin Drum. Whatever that means, Erin.) but we're now in rehearsals for AC's big fall show, "1001." To celebrate, we have for you the first "1001" Cast Member Blog! Today's blog is written by HCC student Wonsup Chung, who plays The Eunuch and is part of the ensemble. Take it away, Wonsup...

Part of the reason that “1001” is so interesting to me is because it deals with the issues of nationality and identity that I deal with every day as an HCC student.

I came to America right before last year's snow storms in Maryland. South Korea had had some historically memorable snow storms in the past, so I was so excited to get away from horrible snow. However, even before I got a chance to look around the Columbia Mall and try on an American Eagle jacket, I had to shovel snow. I was pretty much stuck at home every day until I shoveled my way out of the snow.

Since I had been living in Korea for 22 years, sometimes I forget that I am in America and not Korea—until the English signs on the highway remind me. When I first got to Howard Community College for the new student orientation, I felt like I was watching a 3D movie at the movie theater; watching westerners talking to each other was familiar, but being in the same place with them was not familiar, so it seemed like virtual reality. Even though I was sharing space with them, I still felt like an audience member watching a movie screen.

In “1001,” Dahna is a minority who looks at herself closely, analyzing herself in the third person, as if she were an actor on stage. She wonders about what parts of herself are traditional, and what parts are modern. She wonders about how her identity plays out when she interacts with other people at her school. Now, I’m so excited to make a connection between my observations and myself. I can stop looking at my life like a third person narrator, and participate in my own life. I’m looking forward to both living and playing these realities in our performances of “1001.”