Author’s Note: This article is for the very few expats and English-speaking Koreans, who were in South Korea in the mid-2000s, during this play’s run at the Top Art Hall theater in Seoul’s Deahangno theater district, and remember catching this play, and who probably landed here after a Google (Bing, Yahoo, whatever) search.
Even if you can’t understand a word of Korean, Miranda (sometimes spelled “Milanda” since Korean English spellings sometimes use an “L” where there should be an “R” and vice-versa) shouldn’t be too difficult to follow. This play is tightly-based on the novel The Collector by John Fowels, which is a simple story of a man’s obsession with a beautiful girl. You know; the old “boy sees girl, boy becomes obsessed with girl, boy kidnaps girl, boy isn’t quite sure what to do with girl” story.
Miranda opens with a dream sequence; a completely darkened stage, and then you hear the string intro to the song “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie” by the singing duo “Baccara.” (A CD I had to run right out and buy after seeing this play). The lights come up right after the pounding drum beat comes in, and then the audience is treated to opening scene, which is a dream sequence in which we see the completely nude lead (well, only) actress’s backside through a very sheer veil that she holds high over her head and then lets fall to the floor. She then slowly moves over to the bed, where the male lead (and also only) actor lies face down. She then gently kisses him down his body and eventually gets on top of him a rides him until she collapses on top of him, both seemingly satiated. I won’t say that the rest of the play goes downhill from there, because it doesn’t, but the opening scene is the most erotic, by far.
