PRODUCED BY INSIGHT ENTERTAINMENT, Ltd.

PRODUCER Jang, Sang-Yong
DIRECTOR Oh, Se-Hyeok
PLAYWRITING Park, Hae-Rim
COMPOSER Chae, Hanul
LYRICS Baek Seok, Park Hae Rim and Chae Hanul
MUSIC DIRECTOR Park, Ji-Hoon
CHOREOGRAPHER Shin, Sun-Ho
SCENIC DESIGNER Seo, Sook-Jean
SOUND DESIGNER Kim, Seong-Ik
LIGHTING DESIGNER Lee, Joo-Won
WIG & MAKEUP DESIGNER Yang, Hee-Sun
COSTUME DESIGNER Do, Yeun

The musical ‘Natasha, the White Donkey, and Me’ is based on the love story of Baek Seok, one of Korea’s favorite poets and his lifetime lover Kim Yeong-han (also called Jaya). Known as the “poet of the poets” in the 1930’s in Korea, Baek Seok was a genius who inspired many other poets and writers and one of the greatest modern boys of that era. Just because he was born in North Korea, the publication of his poems was banned in South Korea for a certain period of time. Later on, his poetry was actively studied, thus making him one of the favorite poets in the country. Starting from Baek Seok’s representative poem “Natasha, the White Donkey, and Me,” the musical tells us the story of Jaya and Baek Seok beautifully and lyrically. Jaya, a courtesan, never forgets a poet she once loved passionately and she lives alone for the rest of her life, always missing him. Meanwhile, Baek Seok used to be one of the greatest modern boys of that era but he ends up working at a farm. Once the curtain goes up, Jaya appears. She has lived alone, never fogetting Baek Seok whom she loved long time ago. She reminisces about him. To her who is now an old lady with gray hair, the poet suddenly appears. With her lover, Jaya travels to the sad past when they first met, loved each other and parted. After coming back from the long journey, Jaya says that she will never regret loving the poet even though their love ended sadly and she had to wait for the poet for such a long time. Just as she says so, white snow falls on her head just like in Baek Seok’s poem.

The musical ‘Natasha, the White Donkey, and Me’ (written by Park Hae-rim and composed by Chae Hanul) is filled with lines and lyrics based on 22 beautiful poems by Baek Seok. Using his poems as signposts, the performance traces his life and love. Lyrical numbers only with piano accompaniment keeps Baek Seok’s poetic language intact while maximizing the musical’s overall sentiment. Such numbers are combined with a neat stage and the actors’ great acting, making this widely acclaimed musical comparable to a pure and beautiful collection of poems.

REVIEW

The creative musical touches the audience with its purity, making almost everyone cry. The performance’s healing power comforts us and makes us happy throughout a lonely winter night.
- Won Jong-won, musical critic of Weekly Kyunghyang

The story told by three performers and one piano on a small stage is simple but resonates long after the performance is over. Baek Seok’s poetic language in lyrics plays the biggest role in the musical. Watching the musical feels like reading a collection of poems; it fills you with sensibility and beauty you have lost.
- Yang Seung-hee, reporter of News Culture

The musical lyrically tells the sad love story of poor poet Baek Seok and his lover Jaya (real name: Kim Young-han (1916∼1999)) who was a courtesan. Baek Seok’s beautiful poetic language and phrases are found everywhere in the performance, making the performance comparable to reading a collection of poems on stage.
- Lim Su-jeong, reporter of Yonhap News

About the Production Company

Insight Entertainment is a entertainment company that was found in 1996. The company has run diverse performing arts projects including the planning and production of concerts and musicals, production of records and artist management. Starting with the production of the creative musical ‘The Days’ in 2013, the company has focused on planning and producing musicals with both artistic value and popularity: ‘Arangga’, ‘Natasha, the White Donkey, and Me’, ‘Sandglass’ (musicals) and ‘Report Guide’ (play). The company also produced a soundtrack album for the live performance of the musical ‘The Days’ and records of the composer Kim Chang-gi and actor Yu Jun-sang. In this way, the company has gone beyond presenting performances to expand its realm to record production; it continues its music business with various types of content. The company’s representative performances include the musicals ‘The Days’ ‘Sandglass’, ‘Natasha, the White Donkey and Me’ and ‘Arangga’ as well as the play ‘Report Guide’ and concerts of Korean singers Cho Yong-pil and K.Will.