Chapter 76:

Chapter 76:

Chapter 76

Why is the stage so clean?

Actor Ji Dong-yeons eyes widened.

Dont ask me, Young-guk came here since morning and cleaned and polished the whole place by himself. We were also surprised when we came here. We were wondering if we had to hire someone to clean the stage.

Young-guk did it?

Not only that, he also marked the movements on the stage with markers. And he taped the stage sections to make blocking easier. When I asked him how he did it, he said he just learned from a book.

Huh.

Ji Dong-yeon chuckled bitterly.

They had rented the theater for a month for the National Theater Festival.

It was a place that had been closed for a long time, so there were many things to fix.

Especially marking the movements on the stage or dividing the stage sections were not easy things to learn without a long experience in theater.

How could he learn from a book?

Ji Dong-yeons gaze turned to Young-guk, who was at one corner of the stage.

What is his identity?

He couldnt forget the performance he showed at the first rehearsal. He was too skilled to be a rookie actor.

He had the aura of someone who had trained in theater for a long time.

He couldnt help but ask the temporary director Lee Chang-hoon who Young-guk learned acting from. But the answer he got made his jaw drop.

Self-taught.

Young-guk, you worked hard since morning.

Director Lee Chang-hoon patted Young-guks shoulder. He was also amazed.

Who would have thought that Young-guk would come here early in the morning and clean and arrange the stage by himself.

He was a teen star who was popular in the broadcasting industry. He thought he would be arrogant, but his actions were admirable.

No, it wasnt that hard.

Young-guk smiled awkwardly.

The truth was, he came here early in the morning because of a habit from his past life.

The youngest ones always had to clean.

Cleaning the stage and the seats was the duty of the youngest.

Young-guk had been the youngest for a long time.

Even when new juniors came, they didnt last more than a few months and left. He had been the youngest for over five years.

Oppa.

Then Yeon-su came closer and called Young-guk. She took him to a place where no one was and sighed.

Next time, take me with you.

Huh?

If you have to clean in the morning, lets go together.

Young-guk realized his mistake. He forgot that he wasnt the only youngest in the theater.

Yeon-su was also younger than him and his sister. He felt sorry for her.

She must be uncomfortable with the situation.

It was like the soldiers who were in the same rank had to watch their seniors. If one of them stood out, the other one would be underestimated.

Okay, lets go together next time.

Yeon-sus lips curled up. Young-guk didnt know. Yeon-su didnt say that because she was worried.

She was looking forward to coming to the empty theater with Young-guk in the morning. Then director Lee Chang-hoon shouted.

Run-through, lets start!

***

The actors on the stage looked at him with puzzled eyes. But his gaze was on the lights hanging from the ceiling of the stage.

****

This is a problem.

Seong Jihun scratched his head and looked at the flickering lights.

There were various lights used on the stage.

Especially during rehearsals, the changes of scenes and settings were often expressed with lights and music.

It would be nice to set up the stage and run through it as it is, but it was limited by the poor production budget.

Anyway, the actors and staff who worked in the theater district of Daehak-ro didnt even get the minimum wage.

Thats why actors who majored in theater acting often did childrens plays or left for a living.

The stage setup was the same. In reality, they often did trivial things themselves rather than outsourcing them.

What do I do with this?

Seong Jihun looked at the flickering lights and racked his brains.

As a stage director, he had to fix it himself, but unfortunately, he was not very skilled in lighting.

Especially, the wiring itself was old and tangled like spider webs, so it would be difficult for anyone who was not an expert.

Director Seong, Im sorry.

The playwright Jeong Yongdae licked his dry lips. He didnt know that the theater he rented was in such a shabby condition.

He rented it for only a month, so he didnt consider much.

He had a reason for that.

The actors who appeared in his work Spring of Joseon took more than a third of the production cost as their fees.

It was not enough to make a decent rehearsal stage.

The theater owner Lee Changhun came over and said.

Dont worry, Ill contact the lighting technician today. It might get worse if we touch it poorly. If they were the ones who used to work in Daehak-ro, this wouldnt be a problem.

All the actors sighed as they looked at the flickering lights.

Everyone, please step aside for a moment.

He gestures to the people gathered around and sets up a ladder in his spot.

Everyone is stunned by the sudden actions of the youngest ones, who have somehow acquired gloves and tools.

Young-guk climbs up the ladder swiftly, while Yeon-su holds the toolbox next to him.

Im glad I brought this.

Young-guk had prepared the toolbox in advance, knowing that there were many things to fix after rehearsing at the theater for the past two weeks.

He frowns as he inspects the lights attached to the ceiling of the stage.

The border lights are faulty, and the baby spot has a broken ground wire. The batten is poorly designed, too.

Director Sung, could you please lower the house lights for a moment? Yeon-su, hand me the small flashlight in the toolbox.

The lights on the stage flicker off, and Young-guk receives a small flashlight from Yeon-su, who acts like his assistant.

He reaches the end of the ladder and bites the flashlight in his mouth, skillfully handling the tangled wires. He looks like a lighting technician.

I almost became a stagehand.

For small theater companies that always struggle with the production budget, it was common to do everything from stage design to lighting installation by themselves. The actors would joke that they couldnt tell if they came to do manual labor or to perform on stage.

Back then, Young-guk, who was the youngest, often helped the lighting technician because he was good with his hands.

He was so good that the technician even suggested that he quit acting and work under him. How much time has passed since then? Young-guk shouts down from the ladder.

Turn on the lights, please.

At Young-guks shout, the stage director, Sung Ji-hoon, raises the house lights again, and the border lights and other lights shine as if nothing had happened.

Young-guk comes down from the ladder and Yeon-su takes the tools from him.

The others look at them with wide eyes. Then Young-guk says to them.

Alright, everyone, lets do another run-through.