At age eleven, everything shifts from one day to the next, never quite the same and always a little strange. Since its premiere in 2019, the youth theater production Young-ji has returned each year with a slightly different Young-ji and a slightly different Byeongmokan, inviting audiences into a new world every time.

The 2026 production enters one of its many “Young-ji universes,” where sign language serves as the primary language. Park Ji-young in the title role is joined by some of the most accomplished Deaf actors working on stage today, together conjuring the distinct world of Byeongmokan in 2026. The voice of a traditional singer is woven in alongside them, creating an interplay between sign language and spoken word. The result is a production that opens up the senses—eyes, ears, and the whole body—in ways you have never experienced before.

Director Kim Mi-ran, a Baeksang Arts Award winner, draws on her sustained work in sign language theater to bring vividly to life stories that extend beyond spoken language. Playwright Heo Seon-hye, who has long explored the inner lives of young people, builds Young-ji’s extraordinary world once more. With the original creative team back together, the 2026 production of Young-ji opens the door to Byeongmokan for all children and adults looking to find what it means to be themselves. All you have to do is step through.

“That’s how you get to a new world.”