Amidst the cacophony of daily life, you need a quiet moment for rest and renewal.

Librarians' Little Lives

Following their 2025 co-production Rosetta, the National Theatre of Korea (NTCK) and the Asia Culture Center Foundation (ACC Foundation) have joined forces once again in 2026. Featuring a powerhouse cast including Lee Ji-hyun, Park Yong-U, Son Ji-yoon, Jang Ho-in, and Hwang Sang-kyung, the production offers an immersive experience that makes the audience feel as though they are sitting inside a library. When the relentless noise of daily life gets overwhelming, you need a moment to pause, quietly revisit personal memories, and find time for healing. In June 2026, at the threshold of summer when the greenery reaches its peak, Myeongdong Theater invites audiences to share in that moment with the sound of falling rain.

“I was so glad when we decided to restore them. It felt as though we had survived together. I wanted to save every single one.”

A storage archive filled with books no longer sought out by readers is flooded by rain.

In this space, where books are eventually discarded after a certain period of time, restoration takes place by a twist of irony. As the librarians pick up the waterlogged books one by one, they carefully begin to share their memories with one another. Those small, personal memories gradually become a source of healing, comforting and restoring both themselves and one another. 

Hours Filled with the Pitter-Patter of Rain, and the Little Lives Within

The sound of rain filling the still library becomes a soft, almost ticklish whistle that nudges at a corner of memory. Perhaps it was a thorn lodged deep inside. Once it is removed with great difficulty, the mark it leaves behind flares albeit briefly. And then, those little souls exchange tender conversations in silence and willingly heal one another.

Synopsis

In a public library housed in a former high school building in a big city, Jae-seon works as Head of the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences Department, alongside Si-yeon, a first-year librarian, Jeong-yun, who handles acquisitions, Dae-yeong, who manages cataloguing, and Chang-hyeon, a public service worker. One summer day, record-breaking rain sweeps across the city, and the library appears much the same as always, save for a minor leak in the ceiling of the reference room. While waiting for visitors, the librarians sort newly arrived books and retrieve reserved titles from the shelves. Si-yeon arrives late that morning and heads to the preservation storage to find a book that she failed to check out for a patron the day before due to her inexperience. The moment she steps inside, water rushes in, and the room becomes flooded within seconds. As a result, the library is closed temporarily, and staff from every department gather to move the drenched books to safety and begin restoring them.

Written & Directed by Kang Hyun-ju

Kang Hyun-ju creates research-based dramatic theatre. She observes people who work quietly and without fanfare, repeatedly healing the wounds of life and marching on with resilience. Her work believes in and champions the inner capacity for recovery found in such subdued lives.

Major Works

Written & Directed: A Case of Faulty Growth (2023)

Adapted & Directed: The Great Passage (2020–2021)

Devised & Directed: Market Theatre (2019)

Directed: 99% Genius Diary (2023, 2026), Stir-Fried Vienna Sausage and Vegetables (2019)