The Eternal Thread: Gunsam Lee’s First Play in English

Abstract

Based on a recently discovered typescript of his first play, The Eternal Thread, which Gunsam Lee (Korean name Yi Geun-Sam) wrote in English in the United States in 1958, this article aims to situate Lee as a playwright of tragedy, rather than a playwright of comedy, as he has been commonly regarded. This play clearly shows that he was interested in tragedy in his earliest career as a playwright. Even his later plays are strongly tinged with a dark sense of life, thus making his whole body of work tragicomic. This article discusses his training in playwriting and dramaturgy in the United States before he played his pivotal role in Korea until his demise in 2003.