To Be Liberated Premieres at Hobgoblin Playhouse
Ezekiel Theater Company will present the world premiere of To Be Liberated, a poignant new play commemorating the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese occupation, with four performances in June 2025 at The Hobgoblin Playhouse in Los Angeles as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Written and directed by Soo Chyun, the 30-minute drama explores themes of freedom, memory, and reconciliation through the story of two estranged friends reuniting on the morning of Korea’s liberation.
Set on August 15, 1945—the day Korea was freed from 35 years of Japanese colonial rule—To Be Liberated captures a deeply personal and emotional moment in history through an intimate encounter between two old friends. As they meet unexpectedly in a quiet park, they are forced to confront painful memories, long-buried truths, and the emotional scars left by war, loss, and separation. What begins as a simple reunion slowly unravels into a reckoning with the past and a meditation on what it truly means to be free.
Directed by Soo Chyun and featuring performances by Karla Kim and Aubrey Kim, the production is a minimalist, music-infused experience. Joseph Hwang accompanies the drama live on the gayageum, a traditional Korean zither, creating an ethereal soundscape that weaves through the narrative. The play’s lean structure and stripped-down staging emphasize raw emotion and cultural resonance, inviting audiences to reflect on the legacy of colonial trauma and the personal cost of liberation.
“This piece is deeply personal for our team,” says director Soo Chyun. “As Korean-American artists, we grew up with inherited memories of occupation and survival. We wanted to ask not only what it means to be free, but also how that freedom transforms—and sometimes haunts—those who survive.”
To Be Liberated is presented by Ezekiel Theater Company as part of the 2025 Hollywood Fringe Festival, offering four performances only. Dates and times are as follows:
- Friday, June 6, 2025 at 7:30 PM
- Saturday, June 14, 2025 at 6:00 PM
- Sunday, June 15, 2025 at 5:00 PM
- Thursday, June 19, 2025 at 6:00 PM
All performances will take place at The Hobgoblin Playhouse (Main Space), located at 6440 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA. Tickets are $10 and available for reservation at https://www.hollywoodfringe.
For media inquiries, interviews, or additional information, please contact Soo Chyun at [email protected].
Main Image: Courtesy of To Be Liberated
Editor's Note: At StageLync, an international platform for the performing arts, we celebrate the diversity of our writers' backgrounds. We recognize and support their choice to use either American or British English in their articles, respecting their individual preferences and origins. This policy allows us to embrace a wide range of linguistic expressions, enriching our content and reflecting the global nature of our community.
🎧 Join us on the StageLync Podcast for inspiring stories from the world of performing arts! Tune in to hear from the creative minds who bring magic to life, both onstage and behind the scenes. 🎙️ 👉 Listen now!