The play 'Cherry Garden', starring actors Jeon Do-yeon and Park Hae-soo, will begin a full-fledged overseas tour, starting with invited performances in Hong Kong in September and Singapore in November.
"Cherry Garden" is a work produced by LG Art Center and directed by world-renowned director Simon Stone, and at the premiere of LG Art Center Seoul last year, it drew great attention with a 95% audience share and a total of 40,000 spectators amid overwhelming audience response and media favorable reviews.
The overseas guest performance will feature 10 premiere actors who took the stage at LG Art Center Seoul, including Jeon Do-yeon and Park Hae-soo, to exude the energy of the original team.
After watching a performance in Korea on the first day of the LG Art Center's opening in Seoul, world-renowned director Ivo van Hove praised 'Cherry Garden' as a'great modern reinterpretation'. In addition, world leading theater and festival producers, including Ruth McKenzie, artistic director of British Council, who co-produced 'Cherry Garden', and Michael Ronagan, senior producer at the Park Avenue Armory in New York, praised 'One of the most impressive contemporary plays' after the Seoul premiere.
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Thanks to this explosive reaction at home and abroad, 'Cherry Garden' continues to meet with global audiences on overseas stages. The first overseas stage will be held from September 19 to 21 at the Grand Theater of the Hong Kong Cultural Center. The Hong Kong government has been invited to the opening of the "2025 Hong Kong Asia Plus Festival" with the aim of showing Asia's world-class traditions and modern performing arts. It will then be performed three times from November 7-9 at Esplanade, one of the leading international venues as well as Singapore. The Singapore performance is also part of the commemorative project for the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Singapore hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by the Korea International Cultural Exchange Promotion Agency.
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Linda Lee, senior manager of the Hong Kong Government Festival Bureau, said "We are very pleased to present "Cherry Garden" as the opening film of the Hong Kong Asia Plus Festival in 2025. I was very interested in the early stages of development of the work, and it was very impressive to watch the world-renowned director Stone collaborate with the Korean creative team to reinterpret Chekhov's classics in the background of modern Seoul. An outstanding cast centered on Korean actors, including Jeon Do-yeon and Park Hae-soo, demonstrates how bold and thoughtful the work is."We are very excited for Hong Kong audiences to have the rare opportunity to meet Stone's sharp artistry and world-class ensembles on stage."
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Faith Tan, Singapore Esplanade Program Director, "We are pleased to present Anton Chekhov's timeless masterpiece "Cherry Blossom Garden" to Singapore audiences with Stone's strong interpretation."This is the first large-scale Korean theater to be presented at Esplanade, and it is also in line with our direction to introduce artistically inspired performances to Singapore by presenting various perspectives and in-depth discourses. It is a valuable opportunity to experience classical texts and the universal themes contained in them with today's gaze and modern sensitivity, and I believe it will be an impressive work for Singaporean audiences."
'Cherry Blossom Garden' Executive Producer Lee Hyun-jung, Seoul Center Director of LG Arts Center, said"Cherry Blossom Garden" is a very special work that brings together world-renowned writers, directors, and top Korean actors to vividly transform a Russian story written more than 100 years ago into today's Korean story. Stone's modern interpretation, Korean actors' enthusiastic performance, unique stage based on Saul Kim's architectural work and Jang Young-kyu's music are truly global projects in which collaboration between people from various backgrounds and talents shone in all production processes, and world-class theaters and festivals that were greatly attracted to this part have expressed their intention to invite one after another" he said. LG Art Center has been trying to inspire and stimulate Korean audiences and our artists by introducing excellent foreign works for the first time in Korea over the past 25 years. Now, we want to strive to meet a wider global audience by performing on the global stage with our works."We believe that this stage, created by the world's best actors and creatives, will serve as an opportunity to let the world know the possibility and emotion of K-theater."
'Cherry Garden' will meet more audiences from all over the world next year beyond Asia, including Australia and New York.
