Beginning May 14, Hedgerow Theatre Company presents the regional premiere of “Endlings: by Korean-Canadian director, playwright, and screenwriter Celine Song. Directed by Kalina Ko, the play follows two generations of Korean women grappling with the weight of their pasts, the loss of their cultural heritage, and the complexities of identity, all while confronting the haunting question of what it means to be remembered.
Endlings is set to run from May 13 to June 1.
Song has written and directed stage and film productions depicting beautiful explorations of the perils of the human condition. Audiences may recognize her as the writer and director of the 2023 romantic drama Past Lives, which earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director. As a playwright, she has received critical acclaim for her work, including her first major production, Endlings, which premiered in 2019 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The play led to her becoming a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the oldest and largest playwrighting prize for women writing for English-speaking theater.
Endlings is set on two different islands. On the Korean island of Man-Jae, three elderly haenyeos – sea women – spend their dying days continuing a fading ancient tradition, diving into the sea to fish with nothing but a knife. On the Island of Manhattan, Korean-Canadian playwright Ha Young (Shin) struggles to finish a new play as she navigates the expectation that she write more “authentic” stories inspired by her identity. Endlings poses a thought-provoking question: who gets to tell stories, and how do those stories shape our understanding of the world?
Hedgerow’s regional premiere presentation of Endlings features an award-winning cast of stage actors. Portraying the three haenyeos are Helen Hayes Award-winning Washington, D.C.-based actor Tuyết Thị Phạm as Go Min, New York-based actor Gray Choi as Sook Ja, and New York-based actor and dancer Shigeko Sara Suga as Han Sol. Sarah Shin appears as the play’s struggling playwright Ha Young. Rounding out the cast in various ensemble roles are Philadelphia-based actors Scott Berkowitz, Ethan Goonewardene, Paul Harrold, John Harvey, and Kevin McCann.
If You Go
- Preview Tuesday, May 13, at 7:30 p.m.
- Opens on Wednesday, May 14, at 7:30 p.m. with post show reception
- Performances through Sunday, June 1. Ticket link: Hedgerow Theatre Company
- Recommended for audiences ages 15 or older
- Approximate 100-minute runtime with no intermission.
- Pride Night May 22, at 7:30 p.m. for LGBTQIA+ audiences
- Open-caption performances available May 29- June 1
- Relaxed Performance on Saturday, May 31, at 2 p.m.