Performance Review: A Day of May

I recently had the chance to visit Korea for a very short trip and managed to catch a few shows. I’d like to introduce one that left a particularly strong impression on me. It’s a play called A Day of May, and like Mouthpiece—which I reviewed before—it’s a two-hander.

A Day of May first premiered in 2024 and became quite popular through word of mouth that it sold out and even had an encore run. I had seen it back then, of course, so I made sure to include it in my schedule for this trip. Since the play deals with the theme of grooming crimes, there is a trigger warning in the notices. If you find this subject matter deeply distressing, you might want to skip this review.

Synopsis

In the studio of Lee Hwan, a social media influencer and a rising young painter, two people named May and Haru cross paths. May claims to be Lee Hwan’s assistant, while Haru claims to be his long-time friend. In a space where the owner has disappeared and the truth is nowhere to be found, the two constantly doubt and interrogate each other, their only common interest being Lee Hwan. As they recount their memories, teetering dangerously between charming lies and ugly truths, they finally piece together the real Lee Hwan they both knew.

The Performance

The show begins with a boy in a hospital gown, a large coat draped over his shoulders, fidgeting with a lamp on a table. Hearing the sound of a digital door lock, he hides behind a sofa. A young man enters, saying, "One step forward. Three steps to the right." He turns on the light, looks around the room, and mutters, "Everything’s the same." He soon discovers the boy hiding there, and the two start talking about "Lee Hwan," the owner of the room. The boy's name is Owul which means May and the young man's name is Haru which means day in korean. As mentioned in the synopsis, Owul insists he was an assistant, and Haru says he was a friend. During their conversation, Owul notices a scar on Haru’s neck identical to his own. He claims Lee Hwan was actually a vampire and says, "Since we’re the same, let’s save him." Haru persuades Owul to explain the Lee Hwan he knows, leading them to reenact everything from their first meeting to the present. Owul plays Lee Hwan while Haru plays May; at other times, Haru reenacts his own childhood encounters with Lee Hwan. Slowly, the veil begins to lift.

Because of the trigger warning regarding grooming, you can probably guess the direction of the story. Since it's a short production, I’ll skip the detailed plot points and the ending to avoid giving away too many spoilers.

Thoughts

It seems like everyone tends to fall for the person who makes them feel special. It’s hard enough to find someone who truly looks at you and recognizes your potential—imagine how overwhelming that feeling must be when you're young. Even outside of grooming crimes, there are many people who endure periods of pain and, even after escaping the reality of it, find themselves still wandering through the nightmare of those memories.

This is a story about those people. It’s about someone struggling to walk away and someone still trapped in the pain meeting each other to find healing. Everyone lives with some kind of scar, and I hope this performance brings comfort to those who see it. (I also hope this play can be exported abroad so it can touch the hearts of even more people.)