Tales of Two and One Boohoo

In the Winter of 2023, I had a wonderful opportunity to be part of the production team Tales of Two and One Boohoo at my school’s theatre program, Regal Rendition. Tales of Two and One Boohoo was an entirely student-produced children’s play from script-writing to directing, featuring three beloved Korean Folk Tale stories. Each story focuses on a duo, with two ending up in a positive relationship whereas the last ends with a break, hence the play’s title.

For this blog post, I would love to share these stories to you!

The Two Brothers

Once upon a time, two brothers who got along very well lived with each of their families. Together, they grew rice, and every year, they always had a successful harvest. When the harvest season came around that year, they were able to harvest a lot of rice; they decided to split the harvest in half between the two families. On the night of the harvest, the younger brother thought of his older brother’s large family and decided to take some of his rice to put in the older brother’s pile. Shortly after the younger brother left, the older brother thinks of his younger brother who recently had a newly wedded wife, and decides to give some of his rice to his younger brother’s pile. When the two brothers woke up the next morning, they were confused to see that their rice piles remained unchanged and both of them decided to return that night to give each other rice. Soon, night came, and the two brothers start to make their move. As they slowly inch closer to each other, they soon collide. Startled, the two brothers soon realized that they were both trying to give rice to each other and called for a celebration between the two families. They lived happily ever after.

Heungbu and Nolbu

The story of Heungbu and Nolbu is an incredibly well-known Korean classic originating from pansori literature that has been adapted into novels, films, and plays. Heungbu and Nolbu are brothers, Nolbu being the older of the two. While they got along well, following their father’s death, Nolbu succumbed to greed and started to treat Heungbu and his family poorly. One day, Nolbu finally kicks Heungbu out of his house, forcing Heungbu and his family to relocate to a small old shack in the mountains. Heungbu, however, remained optimistic and started to plant crops to sustain their new life. One winter, Heungbu discovered a sparrow with a broken leg and healed it—when the next spring came around, the sparrow returned with a gourd seed, which Heungbu gratefully planted. Three large gourds grew out of the gourd seed, and when Heungbu and his family cut the gourds, a new house, silks, and riches poured out of them. The family quickly grew rich. Nolbu, hearing this, grew jealous and decided to follow what Heungbu did. He captured a sparrow, forcefully breaking it’s leg, healed it, and waited for the sparrow to come back with the gourd seed. When the three gourds grew, they were visibly ugly compared to Heungbu’s; still optimistic that the gourds would give him something, Nolbu decides to cut them. Upon splitting the gourds, bugs, goblins, and muddy water spew out, destroying Nolbu’s house and possessions. Home gone and no where else to go, Nolbu goes to Heungbu’s house and begs for his forgiveness—Heungbu, being a good man, forgives Nolbu, and the two return to good terms. They continued to live in peace for the rest of their lives.

The Golden Amber

The Golden Amber is a story of a dog and a cat attempting to retrieve a stolen Golden Amber. One day, an old man was fishing when he caught a fish; feeling pity for the fish as it begged for mercy, the old man freed it back into the ocean. The next day, when the old man returned to the beach, a young man dressed in fine robes awaited him: he was the Sea Dragon Prince, and had come to invite the old man to the underwater palace. The old man accepted the invitation, and at the palace, a banquet was hosted in his honor. Knowing that his wife would become worried, the old man bids his farewell, and as a parting gift, the Sea Dragon King gifts him a magical golden amber that will grant any wishes. Using this golden amber, the old man’s home became very nice and they quickly became rich. Hearing of this, an evil old woman from another village visits the home and tricks the old woman into giving her the amber. The amber, now in the possession of the evil old woman, greatly saddened the old couple. The cat and dog couldn’t bear to see their owners sad, and decided to go take back the amber from the evil old woman. Together, they crossed the river, with the cat on the dog’s back, and successfully retrieved the amber back. On their way home, the dog, startled by the cat, accidentally drops the amber that it had in its mouth in the river. As there was almost nothing they could do, the dog returns back home while the cat thinks of a strategy by the river. Exhausted from the day’s events, the cat gives into its hunger and eats a fish gifted by the local fisherman. To its surprise, when it bit in, the golden amber came out of the fish’s stomach. The cat, delighted, hurriedly rushed home with the amber in hand. Upon the cat’s return, the old couple were delighted to see the magic amber again, offering the cat to live in their once again, nice home. The dog felt that this was unfair, but was dismissed by the old couple because it gave up before finding the amber. While the old couple and the cat lived happily ever after, it is said that from this day, cats and dog don’t get along.