"Wild Goose Dreams" By Hansol Jung - SpeakEasy Stage Company (Boston, MA.) - REVIEW

(Cover Photo: The CAST of "WILD GOOSE DREAMS" by Hansol Jung presented by the SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, MA. through April 8, 2023. Photo credit Nile Scott Studios)




By Kevin T. Baldwin

METRMAG Reviewer

# 774-242-6724

“I cannot free myself from my daughter.” 

                                                                                    - Hansol Jung   

SpeakEasy Stage Company

Presents 

"WILD GOOSE DREAMS"

New England Premiere!

Written By Hansol Jung

Directed By Seonjae Kim

Cast Includes: Amanda Centeno - Heejin/Chorus; Fady Demian* - Digital Minsung/Chorus; Ciaran D’Hondt - Digital Nanhee/Chorus; John D. Haggerty* – Father; Elaine Hom - Wife/Chorus; Eunji Lim - Yoo Nanhee; Ryan Mardesich* – Chorus; Jeffrey Song* - Guk Minsung.

Additional Creative Team:  

Jupiter Lê - Assistant Director; Crystal Tiala** - Scenic Designer; George Cooke - Sound Designer; Kathryn Koch* - Assistant Stage Manager; Cori Couture - Audio Describer; Coty Lennon Markee - Sound Board Operator/Run Crew; Machel Ross° - Costume Designer; Yo-El Cassell° - Intimacy Choreographer; Rebecca Glick - Wardrobe Supervisor; Andrea Doane - Audio Describer; Dominique D. Burford - Production Manager/Props Supervisor; Kat C. Zhou** - Lighting Design; Miranda Mclean* - Production Stage Manager; Reed Simiele - Lead Electrician; Alex Leondedis - Covid Safety Manager; Paulina Martz - Covid Safety Manager

* MEMBER OF ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION, THE UNION OF PROFESSIONAL ACTORS AND STAGE MANAGERS IN THE UNITED STATES

** REPRESENTED BY UNITED SCENIC ARTISTS, LOCAL USA 829 OF THE IATSE

° STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY

Performances:

March 17, 2023 through April 22, 2023

(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)  

Calderwood / BCA, 527 Tremont Street, Boston MA 02116 

For Tickets Contact the Box Office # 617-933-8600

www.speakeasystage.com

SpeakEasy Stage Company bursts into a wide array of vibrant colors with their latest offering, "WILD GOOSE DREAMS." 

Set in a modern Seoul, South Korea (yet, also existing simultaneously in some kind of "metaverse"), we witness two lonely people, Yoo Nanhee (Eunji Lim) and Guk Minsung (Jeffrey Song), who find one another while searching dating apps online.

Nanhee is a North Korean defector with no way to contact her family. She frequently dreams of her father and how they last saw one another. 

Seeking an emotional "distraction," Nanhee takes to a dating app.

Minsung is a gireogi appa (or “goose father”), working in Seoul to send money to his family in Texas. 

The strain on his marriage has reached an impasse so he, too, has taken to a dating app for "comfort."

(Photo: The CAST of "WILD GOOSE DREAMS" by Hansol Jung presented by the SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, MA. through April 8, 2023. Photo credit Nile Scott Studios)

Quickly, a sexual relationship forms. However, is it love that they actually feel for one another? 

Or, possibly, do they merely bond in an attempt to distract themselves from the pain they experience in their own lives? 

Perhaps it is neither...or, perhaps, it is a little of both. 

Whatever it is, from Jung's almost poetic script, we soon grow to care a great deal for each of these people - also, in no small part, from the authentic and sympathetic performances given by both Lim and Song.

Jeffrey Song composed two songs for "WILD GOOSE DREAMS" - "I Am Real" and "I Wanna Die."

(Photo: Eunji Lim and Jeffrey Song in a scene from "WILD GOOSE DREAMS" by Hansol Jung presented by the SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, MA. through April 8, 2023. Photo credit Nile Scott Studios)

We find this couple, together and separately, intriguing and, as the play progresses, we learn more about their hopes, their dreams, their families and especially their personal demons. 

The vibrant set design by Crystal Tiala, highlighted by limited use of neon colors pink, green and a light blue, are used to perfectly illustrate the "digitized world" in which these two lost souls exist.

While "WILD GOOSE DREAMS" is not a musical, the quirky, disjointed story, written by Hansol Jung, certainly unfolds as if it could be one. 

Jung's creatively constructed dialogue, combined with the imaginative staging by the show's director, Seonjae Kim, allows "WILD GOOSE DREAMS" to successfully bring forth its message, almost rhythmically, keeping the audience 100% engaged from beginning to end.

Another noteworthy performance is by actor John D. Haggerty as Yanhee's "Father," presenting a parent torn between loyalty to his family and to his country.  

(Photo: The CAST of "WILD GOOSE DREAMS" by Hansol Jung presented by the SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, MA. through April 8, 2023. Photo credit Nile Scott Studios)

Using the ensemble as an extended Greek Chorus, there is an almost cyberspace "KPOP Meets Godspell" vibe to "WILD GOOSE DREAMS." 

"Book of Matthew" verses are replaced by most commonly viewed Internet commands, webpage responses or cyberspace messages (such as "File Not Found," "No New Messages," "No New Facebook Notifications" or "What's On Your Mind?"), all executed to perfection by the seemingly "digitized" ensemble.

There are also multiple monologues, expertly conveyed by the actors, holding up a collective mirror to the depths of a world that, either in the past or in the current digital age, seeks to manipulate or control what cannot ever be fully manipulated or controlled - human emotion.

"WILD GOOSE DREAMS" features great intimacy and an equal dose of troubling content. 

Political leanings aside, as we plunge into the depths of the minds of these two people, bombarded by social media technology, we soon learn of where true loyalties are best kept.

"WILD GOOSE DREAMS" continues at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston until April 22nd.

Approximately one hour, 40 minutes with no intermission 

Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) 

@MetrmagReviews

@Theatre_Critics 

ABOUT THE SHOW

In an age where technology offers easy connection, Nanhee and Minsung are alone in Seoul, South Korea. 

Nanhee is a North Korean defector with no way to contact her family. 

Minsung is a gireogi appa or “goose father,” working in Seoul to send money to his family in Texas. 

But after a chance encounter on the internet, the pair strike up an unlikely romance and discover a quiet intimacy within the noise of the 21st century. 

Filled with poetic dialogue and powered by boundless imagination, "WILD GOOSE DREAMS" is a charming love story for the modern age.

RUN TIME: One hour and 40 minutes with no intermission.   

ABOUT SPEAKEASY STAGE COMPANY

SpeakEasy Stage Company is a non-profit theatre company located in the South End of Boston and is led by award-winning Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault. SpeakEasy was named the Pavilion Resident Theater for the Boston Center for the Arts in 2007 and produces 28 weeks of new plays and musicals each season at the Nancy and Ed Roberts Studio Theater in the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts.

Subscription Information: Subscriptions for SpeakEasy Stage Company’s 2022-23 Season are now on sale.  To purchase or for more information, call  617-933-8600 or go online to https://www.bostontheatrescene.com/season/speakeasy-subs.aspx.   

Patrons with subscription questions may also call Jim Torres at 617-482-3279 or write Jim at JimTorres@SpeakEasyStage.com.   

Administrative Office