The Free9 by In-Sook Chappell

The National Theatre Connections series has been a great resource for new texts for young people's performance. The ten plays are presented by the best modern playwrights each year, whose brief is to write for young people, and The Free9 is from the 2018 collection.

At the heart of the play are nine teenagers try to leave North Korea, dreaming of a new life where they might achieve fame and fortune, or even just be able to eat ice cream in South Korea. The danger is far from over; they encounter a character called Big Brother who may or may not be able to help their cause.

The play is inspired by a true story; the documentary about the original nine is on YouTube and that often has an appeal for young performers. There is a concern here that the playwright deals with in the preface. I think I would feel uncomfortable doing this play with my students as very few of them are of East Asian extraction; there is a great deal of research required here, particularly with mastering the Korean language words that are important to the play.

The play itself is structured with short scenes going between past and present in a variety of locations, presenting interesting challenges for directors and designers. There's potential for a great K-Pop inspired dance number, which would appeal to many, and add a bit of colour and movement to the piece. There is a chorus of characters called The Forgotten who have some individual roles to play. The nine themselves are all carefully drawn with their own individual characteristics and issues, and they are all within the playing age of most students taking a Drama qualification.

And, sadly, that's where the difficulty comes. This play, while perfect for a youth group or a committed extracurricular class doesn't conform to the requirements of all specifications. There are too many characters, and the short scenes make it hard to edit it into a suitable form for examination purposes[*]. That being said, I liked the play. It talks about an issue that many of us will not be familiar with in a theatrical way.

[*Editorial update: The play is, however, now a prescribed text for the Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Drama, with a free guide and resources available to support teachers]