New People
New people were always exciting, especially those with whom he'd share joys and hardships over the next few months, building a single work together. Meeting them was a thrill for any actor.
"This way, please!"
"Nice to meet you. It's an honor to be working on the third-quarter production together!"
As soon as he stepped into the Actor's Yard office, the two people besides Senior Jeong Jae-min and Senior Lee Kang-sik greeted Woojin with bright smiles. Director Oh Tae-hyeop and playwright Ma Seol-ah welcomed him warmly.
"I'm actor Baek Woojin. I've heard so much about you both. I look forward to working with you."
In response to their warm reception, Woojin bowed politely. It was a courteousness often seen in rookies fresh to the troupe or setting foot in Daehak-ro for the first time. It shone through in every one of his actions.
Oh Tae-hyeop and Ma Seol-ah waved their hands in flustered surprise.
"Oh, no, no. If anything, that's what we should be saying to you."
"I was shocked when the president told me. How could Actor Woojin be joining my play?!"
Woojin gave an awkward smile. It was already clear from their words and demeanor. His relationship with them was starting on a vertical hierarchy.
Even though he'd asked Senior Jeong Jae-min in advance to treat him equally, it seemed unavoidable. No matter how much he insisted on being treated like the other Actor's Yard actors, people's gazes and treatment toward a top star thriving in the vastly larger screen acting world—compared to theater—were bound to differ from the start.
"No, really. I'm just a rookie actor, and I'm truly grateful for this huge opportunity."
In the end, Woojin decided to keep calling himself a "rookie actor." He'd humble himself while elevating them. "10-million actor," "first maker," "30% ratings," "Best Actor"—all the titles he'd earned over the past three and a half years would be set aside for the next three months. The only title he needed was "rookie actor, Baek Woojin." He'd prove himself through skill alone.
"Alright, we'll get to know each other gradually. For now, let's briefly discuss the script."
After the short introductions, Senior Jeong Jae-min continued explaining the third-quarter regular performance project.
"This is Seol-ah's first full-length play, and the final script was completed just yesterday. I've printed out one act each—take a look."
Two neatly bound scripts were handed to Woojin and Lee Kang-sik. One was Ma Seol-ah's debut work, Please Give Me One More Chance. The other was the play going up this time.
"Saw the Pheasant?"
"Yes!"
The unique title captured the actors' attention. Ma Seol-ah responded to Senior Lee Kang-sik's unwitting murmur. Her voice was somehow bright and cheerful on the surface, yet filled with an indescribable confidence and conviction underneath. Everyone except her broke into pleased smiles. Even before reading the script—the backbone of any play—a positive vibe settled in.
"Let's skim through quickly. I haven't seen the full thing here either, so we'll know once we read it."
"Sounds good."
Not even Senior Jeong Jae-min had grasped the entire content yet. As the three actors hurriedly skimmed, click. Ma Seol-ah captured the moment with a proud selfie on her phone.
The three actors, who had moved like a single organism on the Justice set, paid no mind to her photo. Watching their terrifying focus on the script, Oh Tae-hyeop quietly asked Ma Seol-ah,
"Right, Seol-ah. You haven't heard about that yet, have you?"
"What?"
"Senior Lee Kang-sik is confirmed for A Team."
"Yeah, I know that."
"But you didn't know that spot on B Team goes to the president, right?"
"...Pardon?"
Ma Seol-ah's eyes widened. In other words,
"Does that mean there might be no distinction between A Team and B Team?"
"Could be. We'll discuss properly once you've all read the script."
"...It's the first time something like this has happened, so I'm still wrapping my head around it."
"I'm surprised too. Anyway, let's step out for a smoke."
"Sure."
The two directors left the room briefly. Silence filled the office, broken only by eyes scanning line after line, absorbing the playwright's agonized words.
A moment later.
Thud, thud, thud.
At roughly the same timing, the three closed their scripts.
"It's fun."
Woojin's quiet remark drew nods from the two seniors.
"Makes me want to read the playwright's debut right away."
"Haha, I told you. We had to recruit her."
"Not easy for a newbie to write this smoothly. She's got real power."
Strong satisfaction with the script. It was a crucial matter. For Woojin and Lee Kang-sik, the Actor's Yard project started from a different premise than usual.
In other words, the actors had no say in choosing the script from the beginning. Whether film, drama, or play, actors review scenarios when offers come. They accept if they like it; decline if the quality, content, or schedule doesn't fit—that's the standard process. But for the Actor's Yard third-quarter performance, the script was simply assigned. Auditions decided which actor played which role in the given story. So, once committed to the stage—regardless of liking the work or role—they had to perform. In short, "accept first, check script later."
Fortunately, the script was excellent.
"From reading this, I can kinda tell Seol-ah's style."
"She uses pretty direct expressions."
"Seems to prefer unfolding stories around a small cast, like monodrama or two-hander."
"Right? That's what I thought too. It's a mid-to-long act play with some side characters, but really, aside from the old man and the young guy, there are no other real characters."
The script Saw the Pheasant? featured six characters total, including the main old man and young man. Lee Kang-sik would play the old man in A Team, Jeong Jae-min in B Team. The rest would be selected and assigned via auditions—including Woojin.
Bang.
"All done reading?"
"Gifts for you!"
Oh Tae-hyeop and Ma Seol-ah returned, hands full of coffee. After gulping down a refreshing sip, Ma Seol-ah cleared her throat. It was natural for the playwright to introduce her own work. All eyes turned to her.
"Hmm, where to start..."
"Everything, no skipping!"
Oh Tae-hyeop called out. Ma Seol-ah nodded and began.
"As you've seen, it's a story set in a psychiatric ward deep in the mountains. Settings carry weight, you know. So originally, the keyword for Saw the Pheasant? was 'revenge.'"
She added in her deliberate tone,
"It was a heavy theme. A revenge sparked by the old man's sins in his youth breeds more revenge, a vicious cycle of blood calling to blood. I wanted to weave in all those chronic societal issues."
The original Saw the Pheasant? went like this: The young man grew up enduring severe abuse from his alcoholic father. His mother fled domestic violence but returned, unable to abandon her young son haunting her thoughts. That day, she was killed by the father and his friend—the young old man. The young man vowed revenge and later, as an adult, killed the old man's wife, and so on. She rattled off a completely different tone from the current version.
By now, a natural question arose. Why had such a heavy story changed?
Ma Seol-ah continued,
"My uncle's friend is a doctor at a large nursing hospital in the provinces. I asked if I could do some research, and he kindly agreed. I stayed there a week, observing the patients all day."
It was remarkable passion. She'd practically lived at her acquaintance's hospital for a week, absorbing real-life scenes.
"Some couldn't leave their cramped six-bed rooms from morning to night. Others stared out the window all day, waiting endlessly for children who never came. Seeing their lonely backs, I couldn't bring myself to write Saw the Pheasant? in that heavy vein."
Watching patients of various ages, the story inevitably shifted.
"Mostly elders, but some young ones too. Once, I dropped a coin at the vending machine. It rolled and stopped against a guy's slipper. Looking up, it was a man in his twenties."
He was an adult male patient born with a weak heart and the intellect of a first-grader. The moment he picked up her coin with a goofy expression and handed it back, she felt like she was in a fairy tale, she added.
"That's when I decided to flip the entire story. I love Shakespeare—wanted to write something heavy like Hamlet, revenge begetting revenge. But for a play set in a nursing home psych ward, I just couldn't after seeing it myself."
With the structure already done, she kept the concept and setting but scrapped the ending. A tough call for any writer, but she was bold.
"If using a psych ward, I'd play to my strengths. I think that was about a month before the first draft deadline. Tae-hyeop sunbae freaked out. 'Will you make it in time?' he kept asking."
"Yeah, she'd been planning this for half a year and changes it with one month left... I was terrified."
Oh Tae-hyeop shook his head. Ma Seol-ah burst out laughing.
"But then she brings an even better script? Puahaha!"
Like the two seniors proudly boasting about their junior Baek Woojin, Oh Tae-hyeop hyped up his junior Ma Seol-ah with a hearty laugh. It vividly showed the harmonious vibe among actors and writers alike at Actor's Yard.
"Anyway, I put my personal desires aside! In this play too, I aimed to showcase my unique strengths."
Like her debut Please Give Me One More Chance, where she turned the heavy theme of "illegal employment" into a bright ride via an amusement park metaphor. Saw the Pheasant? pursued "healing" and a "bright atmosphere" in its unfolding—the "strength" of Ma Seol-ah's style that Jeong Jae-min and Oh Tae-hyeop kept praising.
"Right now, I've named them 'old man' and 'young man' in third person, but that can change anytime."
The script introduction continued for a while, with Woojin and the seniors listening intently. It would be re-briefed to the other Actor's Yard members too, with Ma Seol-ah delivering it personally just like this. Throughout, anticipation built for the internal auditions to assign roles.
"Thanks for your hard work today. See you on audition day."
"Great job."
"See you in a week, Playwright."
The first meeting, rich with lingering resonance, ended. Woojin dove straight into preparing for the Saw the Pheasant? audition.
A week passed. The day of the audition arrived—the internal system Actor's Yard prided itself on.