OVERTURE: The House Lights Dim as the Audience Takes Their Seats
(The theater lights slowly dim, and a cool stillness settles over the house. Holding their breath, audience members enter one by one into virtual seats scattered across the globe. On monitors that had been dark, three screens light up in turn with warm, theatrical spotlights.)
Anyone who calls themselves a theatergoer has, at least once, felt that particular loneliness right after a show ends — that swelling emotion with no one nearby to share it with.
This lonely yet burning longing, once confined within the walls of physical spaces, is now finding new possibilities as it breaks down those very walls alongside the evolution of digital platforms.
Audiences today can share news of a performance happening on the other side of the world in real time,
immerse themselves in the same work from entirely different coordinates on the map, and turn the very act of experiencing performing arts into something richer and more humanistic.
HereWeAre Theater Club is a warm "online hideout" born precisely from this shift of the times — a gathering place for theatergoers from all over the world.
2nd Member Yeri Kim joined to reclaim the place performance once held in her life after losing it while studying abroad;
3rd Member Yubin Yoon, an aspiring stage director who has only recently discovered the charm of Daehangno's small theaters;
and 1st Member Jiwon Lee, who once logged hundreds of shows a year in Korea and now enjoys London's West End.
Though they live across three different time zones — Germany, the UK, and Korea — these three members,
united by nothing but their passion for the stage, easily dissolved national borders and gathered together on a laptop screen on August 12th.
Before the conversation officially began, they introduced themselves by summoning "characters from the stage" who reflect their own lives.
The energy radiating from behind their monitors closely resembled the sweltering summer air of a small Daehangno theater.
We now lay out the record of this vivid "online meetup," where they discuss how performance is reflected in personal life and sketch out the landscape of global theater culture.
[ACT 1] We Each Play a Role on Our Own Stage
Q. I'm delighted to raise the curtain on this special conversation today.
Let's open with a chat about theatrical characters — which stage character would you compare yourself to?
Jiwon(1st) | I'm Jiwon Lee, living in the UK. I think I closely resemble Anna from the musical The Red Book.
She's honest about her desires and loves creating things through writing. I also love a life of recording
— I keep steady theater-going reviews and even made my own "review book" — so I feel a deep bond with Anna's journey of becoming a writer.
Yubin(3rd) | Hello from Daejeon, Korea!
For me, it's Claire from Maybe Happy Ending. Honestly, the biggest adventure of my life was switching majors.
I was originally studying biotechnology, but with the conviction that "I'll regret it if I don't do this now," I boldly turned toward media content instead.
Just as Claire sets off in search of fireflies, I feel like I'm searching for my own light, which makes this character feel especially dear to me.
Yeri(2nd) | I'm Yeri Kim, based in Germany. I'd pick Eurydice from Hadestown.
Living abroad and studying in Germany, there are times I feel lonely and worn down.
Every time that happens, the way she keeps pressing on with her journey, holding onto hope that someone will save her, feels just like how I search for both an escape and a new path in a foreign land.
Actually, before I moved to Germany, I once posted a cover of Eurydice's song "Flowers" on YouTube.
In it, I sang about the hope that "someone like Orpheus will always be there to rescue me" — and that message has become a solid foundation supporting me through this lonely life abroad.
[Act 2] A Ritual in the Dark: My Own Pre-Show Routine
Q. Each of your answers really shows off your individuality!
So here's another one — do you have your own personal ritual before entering the theater? Like "I can't focus on the show without doing this" kind of thing?
Yubin(3rd) | Mine might be a bit unusual — I thoroughly research spoilers beforehand.
Not just the plot, but the set design and lighting direction too. Knowing all that in advance doubles the fun of analyzing the director's intentions.
And the moment I sit down, there's one thing I always do: put in eye drops!
My eyes get dry easily, and I'm always afraid of missing the finer details on stage, so that's become my essential ritual.
Yeri(2nd) | I have what I call "bathroom anxiety," so a few hours before a show I go into "water-cutoff (fluid control) mode."
Coffee is absolutely banned, especially on matinee days.
And I have to be the very first person through the doors the moment the house opens — breathing in the quiet air of the theater is what settles my mind.
Jiwon(1st) | In London I'm fairly relaxed about it, but whenever I go to a small theater in Korea, I get really tense.
Checking that my phone is on airplane mode is a given, and in winter I'm extremely careful that my coat doesn't make any noise.
I remember once in Korea, an acquaintance kept badgering me, asking "Did you put your phone on airplane mode?"
[ACT 3] The Moment Just Before the Curtain Rises
Q. There's nothing quite like the taut silence as the orchestra's tuning fades and the overture begins — a moment that makes an audience's heart race.
From the instant you step into the promised physical space of the theater to the very close of the performance,
what is your own "favorite moment," the one that makes your heart pound the hardest?
Yubin(3rd) | For me, the most thrilling instant in the world is the split second I focus my opera glasses.
As the stage lights slowly rise and the house falls into complete darkness, I turn the little wheel of my opera glasses to adjust the focus.
At the end of that faint mechanical click, when the actor's reddened eyes and subtle shifts in expression come into sharp focus right in front of me
— not a single millimeter off — I feel my very soul get pulled straight into the actor's deep emotional current.
As someone who dreams of becoming a stage director, that moment when every object and living being on stage locks perfectly into my sight is indescribably thrilling.
Yeri(2nd) | I love the bright, lively curtain calls of big musicals.
When actors who've been wrapped up in intense conflict and anguish throughout the show finally set down that heavy weight and show their rawest,
brightest faces, joking around and connecting with the audience — soaking in that energy washes away a whole week's worth of fatigue for me.
Jiwon(1st) | Having watched hundreds of plays, the moment that gives me the biggest rush of dopamine is standing in front of the casting board in the theater lobby.
That instant when I see my favorite actor's name — three characters, dead center on the board — cast in exactly the role I'd been longing for:
it's a thrill so intense it can bring me to tears. One of the greatest moments in my whole "fandom history" was when actress Eunhye Baek was cast in and took the stage in the play Pride and Prejudice.
[Act 4] Tips from a Local Guide
Q. Speaking of theater abroad — I've heard the UK's booking system and audience discounts are quite different from Korea's.
Could you share some of the differences you've felt firsthand as an audience member, or any tips that are genuinely useful on the ground there?
Jiwon(1st) | Watching productions at the UK's National Theatre (NT), you really feel the pinnacle of direction that capital and technology can produce.
Among them, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is easily one of the highlights of my entire theatergoing life.
The two-part version I saw had what I'd call "22nd-century" direction — you can feel the wonder of watching real magic seemingly happen right before your eyes.
Starting this September it's apparently being condensed into a single shortened version,
but for shows this spectacular, full-price West End premium seats can run well over £300 (roughly 500,000 won), which makes booking feel pretty intimidating.
That's why having a strategy to land good seats is essential — and the secret weapon local audiences swear by is the TodayTix app's lottery and rush tickets!
Yubin(3rd) | 22nd-century magical direction — now that's tempting!
As someone studying stage planning and direction, I'm very intrigued.
In Korea, the only answer on a popular show's booking day is a frantic mouse-clicking battle, so I'm really curious about a more efficient booking system.
This sounds like something I absolutely have to learn if I ever go to the UK!
Jiwon(1st) | (laughs) Right, this is definitely worth knowing.
The core trick with the TodayTix app is the "Rush" and "Lottery" systems.
If you use them strategically, you can land premium seats worth £300 for as little as £20 (roughly 30,000–40,000 won) — it's almost unbelievable.
On top of that, there's a membership tier system (Gold, Red, Silver), and the more shows you attend, the higher your tier climbs,
which raises your odds of snagging suddenly-released cancellation tickets on the day of or the day before.
If you're planning a trip to London, learning this "digital strategy" in advance will let you enjoy the theater with real peace of mind.
[Act 5] Audience Etiquette, Country by Country
Q. Listening to all this makes me curious about the differences in audience etiquette and culture between Korean and European theaters.
I'd love to hear from those of you who've experienced Europe's relatively freer performance culture compared to Korea's — what was it actually like?
Jiwon(1st) | London is genuinely relaxed. Having a beer or whisky during intermission is completely normal, and the theaters have proper bars built right in.
Compared to the strict atmosphere in Korean small theaters, where you have to worry even about the rustle of your coat, that openness in the UK feels unfamiliar at times but also refreshingly comfortable.
Yubin(3rd) | I envy that kind of culture too! I recently went to a place in Daejeon called "London Stage," where you can enjoy a play with a glass of wine at the counter bar.
It gave me hope that this kind of romantic local theater culture is starting to bloom in Korea as well.
Yeri(2nd) | What surprised me most in Germany was the freedom.
During one performance, an audience member was actually guided by an usher to walk straight across the stage to exit
— from stage right to stage left — while the actors were still performing!
But it made me realize just how relative "audience manners" are when a culture has folded theater so comfortably into everyday life.
Curtain Call: What the Theater Club Left Behind
Q. Now it's time for us, too, to look back on this journey and give it a round of applause.
Tell us what "new territory of taste" you discovered through HereWeAre, and what kind of change or spark it left in your everyday life.
Jiwon(1st) | Honestly, having gone to hundreds of shows a year, I had a certain pride in my theatergoing expertise — but looking back, my taste was actually quite narrow.
Being part of the club and seeing the other members' incredible energy for the arts pushed me to let go of my own stubbornness and reach into unfamiliar territory like contemporary dance and opera.
I recently saw Matthew Bourne's contemporary dance piece The Car Man in London — a reinterpretation of the opera Carmen set in an auto repair shop, incredibly "dirty-sexy" in its staging!
Watching that sensual, dynamic choreography, I felt the sheer thrill that comes with expanding one's taste. Before I knew it, I'd seen over 30 shows in just the last six months.
Yubin(3rd) | Wow, 30 shows in six months is amazing! For me it was the opposite.
I used to be completely absorbed in the grammar of large-scale, flashy big-theater musicals.
I had this bias that small theaters would feel somehow unfamiliar and empty — but hearing the club members carefully introduce small-theater productions one by one moved something in me.
Following their recommendations, I ended up seeing the small-theater play The Last Man in Daehangno.
That small stage, where you could see every bead of sweat on the actors, gave me an emotional comfort and thrill every bit as powerful as a big theater.
I was so moved that I've been "aggressively recruiting" my usual theater-going friend to join this club.
That friend happens to be a small-theater enthusiast, so we've already promised to apply together for the upcoming 4th group and passionately trade tastes with each other.
Jiwon(1st) | I really hope your recruiting pays off, and that you two get to be in the 4th group together — that would be wonderful! Right, the positive influence a community like this can have is really something.
I was inspired a lot too, hearing one member's story — it reminded me just how devoted I really am to this.
Thanks to that, I've started carefully keeping records again on my personal blog — of shows, exhibitions, and books each month — something I'd let slide under the excuse of being busy.
I think that's the clearest proof that this connection built around shared taste has lit a fire in my everyday life.
Yeri(2nd) | Honestly, living abroad as a student left me with so little breathing room that I kept pushing the performances I love out of my life's priorities.
For me, Theater Club activities became a precious time that forced me, every week, to recharge with the warmth of the stage.
The time I spent looking more deeply at performances and organizing my thoughts in my own words became a pillar that steadily supported this lonely life abroad.
[EPILOGUE] Looking Forward to Next Time
The essence of performing arts, in the end, lies in "being alive."
The value of something live — completed by a single breath from an actor, a single fragment of silence from the audience — can never be replaced by anything else.
And there are people all over the world who know that value completely: the very people who, from their own continents and countries, left their records at HereWeAre out of love for the stage.
In that moment of connection across borders via a digital line, the once-lonely "audience of one" finally becomes "us," realizing they are no longer alone.
The teamwork formed as we get to know each other warmly through logbooks and expand our territory of taste together becomes an unseen but sturdy root,
one that lets us enjoy performing arts even more richly — beyond simply watching a show.
Upon this sturdy root of solidarity, the long-standing, once-solid boundary between stage and audience finally, happily, dissolves.
In an age where that boundary has faded, audiences are no longer passive recipients sitting in a dark house, watching the stage unfold before them one-sidedly.
Just as an actor breathes their own fire into the printed words of a script to create a living, breathing character on stage,
we breathe our own philosophy and convictions into a work to actively create our own unique interpretations.
And just as an actor moves freely across the stage, matching breath with a scene partner, we too easily leap across borders and time zones,
moving back and forth between theaters all over the world, connecting with one another.
Those who lead this grand stage of everyday life and art so proactively and beautifully are, by their very existence, already the most perfect "lead actors" in the play that is life.
That is why, even the moment these beautiful leads exit and the stage lights slowly fade to black — the "blackout" — is not an ending, but a brilliant preparation for the next act.
The three protagonists, who each discussed art under the hottest spotlight on their own continent, now close their laptop screens and take confident steps back toward the real stage called "everyday life."
The grand stage of the world that awaits us is still burning hot. And so, this festival-like meeting only pauses for a comma — our connection is by no means an ending.
(The three members' laptop screens close one by one, and the light from their monitors goes dark. Blackout. In the stillness, the connection slowly fades. Curtain.)
Written and edited by Yeri Kim
Photos and materials provided by Nahyun Yu (HereWeAre)
Participants | Jiwon Lee (1st Member), Yeri Kim (2nd Member), Yubin Yoon (3rd Member), Nahyun Yu (HereWeAre)