KB News Desk
Director asks whether we can wait without expecting anything in modern world, where waiting is no longer necessary
Can waiting itself become something worth watching?
The question lies at the center of “Waiting for Totality,” an experimental theater work presented as part of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts’ contemporary performance series Sync Next, where the act of waiting becomes the performance itself.
Set in a fictional scenario in which the audience and performers gather inside a theater to wait for a total solar eclipse that will not occur for another 375 years, the three-hour production transforms shared waiting into its central event. Audience members sit on mats scattered across the stage or move freely through the space as the “waiting” unfolds around them.
Director Kim Sang-hoon of experimental theater collective Ummeeeonn said the production grew out of a simple question: Why do people gather in a theater?
“We wanted to create a performance that restores our sense of shared time,” said Kim during a recent group interview at the Sejong Center’s rehearsal studio.
“People living in cities are no longer waiting for anything, and they aren’t satisfied with the present either,” Kim said. “I wanted to create a healing experience rather than merely ‘killing time.'”
Dramaturg Jung In-hyuk added that the production challenges the conventional purpose of theater.
“Rather than gathering to watch something placed onstage, we wondered whether gathering itself could be enjoyable, or whether gathering itself could become the event,” said Jung.
The idea also stemmed from one of Kim’s personal experiences.
Several years ago, while visiting Seoul’s Seongsu-dong neighborhood — known for its trendy pop-ups that draw hourslong lines — he noticed queues stretching outside nearly every shop. A friend’s remark stuck with him: “In Seongsu, the wait itself has become the attraction.“
“I realized waiting itself becomes content because people expect to gain something in return,” Kim said. “It made me think we’ve become consumed by the logic of acquisition and exchange. I wanted to ask whether it’s possible to experience waiting without the promise of obtaining anything. I think that’s the kind of time we need today.”
The work was first presented as a 60-minute showcase at Doosan Art Center in January. Co-produced with Nam June Paik Art Center, it featured 11 performers. For its Sejong edition, the production has expanded to three hours with a cast of 30.
Kim said the longer running time was necessary for the audience to fully experience the work’s central idea.
“It felt like audiences needed to spend at least three hours waiting to truly understand what the piece is about,” he said. “Because the duration has increased, we’ve also added elements such as a piano concert and choreography to enrich the experience.”
Beyond noting the additions, Kim was reluctant to reveal much more, saying the overall structure remains largely unchanged from the original showcase.
Founded in 2022, Ummeeeonn has built its practice around dismantling and reconstructing traditional theatrical forms.
In “Waiting for Totality,” the collective nods to the chorus of ancient Greek tragedy, reimagining its role for contemporary audiences. In classical Greek theater, the chorus functioned as an intermediary between actors and spectators, serving as both narrator and the voice of the community. That role has largely disappeared from modern theater.
“Most of the 30 actors may never even be noticed by audience members before the performance ends,” Kim hinted.
Actor Kim Joong-yeop said the cast has prepared extensively for a performance in which little of what the audience normally expects actually happens.
“The kinds of things audiences are used to seeing, or expect to see, in the theater simply don’t happen here,” the actor said. “We’ve worked hard not to become anxious or impatient ourselves, but simply to be there with the audience.”
“Waiting for Totality” runs Friday through Monday at the Sejong Center’s S Theater in Seoul.
