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The musical ¡°Yoduk Story,¡± staged at long last after facing all manner of difficulties along the way, is meeting with a tremendous response. Tickets on the weekend 10 days after the curtain went up were sold out, and advance bookings on weekdays are more than 70 percent. Audiences come from all walks of life, starting from middle-aged and older people and those born in North Korea but now including schoolchildren, university students and office workers. Many have come from outside the capital to see a musical that is broad enough in its conception to appeal to everyone, especially the young. It is not uncommon for audiences to burst into tears during the show, and its homepage is full of comments in the vein of, "How can this happen so close to home?"
But while huge numbers of people, from children to a former president, have seen it, there are many more who ought to but haven¡¯t. Chief among them are the president, prime minister, unification minister, National Human Rights Commission director and all politicians and activists who so blithely talk about the ¡°one nation¡± and its ¡°unification.¡± Let them take a look at the pain -- the gunshots, the beatings -- that is expressed here.
Scenes of a child whose hand is being chopped off with a meat cleaver for stealing potatoes, of a son whipping his father just to survive, are a pale echo of realities in the North, former concentration camp inmates testify. The song "Life Like a Candle¡± frequently brings tears to viewers¡¯ eyes with lyrics like, "Is there someone to hear this scream? If there is someone, please rescue us¡±-- a direct appeal to our leaders. And when the cast sing, ¡°Oh God, don't go South Korea only, but come to Yoduk too,¡± how can our politicians make excuses, when they so frequently enjoy group outings to any other musical that comes to town?
Director Jung Sung-san, a North Korean defector himself, has managed the impossible: to tell an engaging story of Hell on Earth, of a kind of triumph over the most adverse of conditions. On many evening, tearful members of the audience press banknotes into Kang's hands when he thanks the audience at the end of each performance. With that encouragement, a wobbly set has changed beyond recognition and become a solid triumph of the art. But what holds it up, above all, is the power of truth. Let those who tried, and failed, to prevent the show from being staged avert their eyes no longer.
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