"Where Olmsted County News Comes First"
Online Edition
Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
Volume ∞ Issue ∞
- 5:36:49, May 15th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - Though I hated to see you reference Glenn Beck by name [Three Times ... [Read More]
- 11:42:07, May 10th 2013 - yenken - I feel very sorry for those who have commented do far, as when you stand fa ... [Read More]
- 12:10:25, Apr 26th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - Mr. "Cabtrom's" garbage-out[burst]--in response to Ms. Reisner's w ... [Read More]
- 9:51:50, Apr 24th 2013 - jeff pischke - To Jerry Grehl, the number to the fillmore county sheriffs office is 7 ... [Read More]
- 9:27:24, Apr 22nd 2013 - Cabtrom - Blah blah blah, garbage in garbage out! ... [Read More]
- 7:00:49, Apr 11th 2013 - Donald Pierce - Col. Stan Gudmundson hit most of the important nails squarly on the h ... [Read More]
- 12:44:54, Apr 4th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - My compliments to Ms. Hammer for giving us well-crafted "Rachel Rea ... [Read More]
- 5:09:06, Apr 3rd 2013 - truthiness - I see this is dated April 1. That explains it! ... [Read More]
- 12:04:33, Apr 3rd 2013 - Frank W. Hawthorne - Say WHAT?!? Stan's American-Pie [In SKY] is Falling--Not Again? ... [Read More]
- 12:40:21, Mar 29th 2013 - Jacob - It's a shame that so few people care about making their voices heard. If we ... [Read More]
29
How will you keep your kids busy this summer vacation?
Adoptee brings bittersweeet process of discovery to the stage
Mon, Jan 21st, 2013
Posted in Arts & Culture
Posted in Arts & Culture
Comments
“We all wonder where we come from,” St. Paul based performer Sun Mee Chomet notes about the common curiosities that adoptees and non-adoptees share. “It’s a universal story about longing to know one’s past.”
While this drive may compel some to seek answers in genealogy or religion, Chomet shares the details of her search for her birth family in Korea, through a one-woman play, bringing to light the absurd situations commonly encountered by adoptees seeking their biological roots.
As an infant in the late 1970s, Chomet rode the crest of a wave to the Midwest from Korea, growing up in Michigan.
In 2011, Chomet was reunited with her birth family through a Korean reality show entitled “I Miss That Person.” The reunion hit several snags involving bureaucracy, culture, and situations that would could hardly considered possible if she was not already on a quest to reunite with blood relatives and a history that has remained unknown well into adulthood.
After the reunification, Chomet found that her conflicted feelings were not entirely resolved and now had ideas even more challenging to her sense of self.
Having earned a M.F.A. in acting from New York University and then working with many theater groups both in the Twin Cities and nationally as an actor, dancer, and playwright, Chomet had a natural mechanism for coping and understanding.
Teaming with Rochester playwright and poet Katie Leo (who is also a Korean adoptee) to create a dyad of one woman plays entitled “The Origin(s) Project: Memoirs in Motion”
“I definitely wrote it for my own growth and health,” Chomet said. “There are so many in similar situations and there aren’t many role models to go to. We’re kind of the first pioneers of this international adoption thing.”
Chomet estimates that there are more than 10,000 Korean adoptees in Minnesota, and about 200 are at a given time actively seeking out their birth family in Korea.
Informal and accessible, “How to be a Korean woman” was intended to be a vessel for relating an adoptee’s journey as if the audience was sitting around a campfire listening to a very intricate story that becomes quite funny at times.
“The best way to get at really complex story is through humor,” Chomet said, noting that the humor pulls the story along, making it more understandable through contrast and irony.
“How to be a Korean Woman” was voted Best Solo Performance in Twin Cities Metro Area by Lavender Magazine.
Having written the play to create understanding for herself and others, Chomet has noticed that adoptees from other countries, as well as those who have not been directly impacted by adoption issues, have resonated with her journey and questioning.
Following the play, there will be a discussion period, “deconstructing adoption,” facilitated by Chomet and Leo.
“A play begins when people start talking about it and it ends when people stop thinking about it,” Chomet said.
“This is a play that people will be thinking about for years.”
For more information, please visit: http://originsprojectus.wordpress.com/
www.rochestercivictheatre.org
While this drive may compel some to seek answers in genealogy or religion, Chomet shares the details of her search for her birth family in Korea, through a one-woman play, bringing to light the absurd situations commonly encountered by adoptees seeking their biological roots.
As an infant in the late 1970s, Chomet rode the crest of a wave to the Midwest from Korea, growing up in Michigan.
In 2011, Chomet was reunited with her birth family through a Korean reality show entitled “I Miss That Person.” The reunion hit several snags involving bureaucracy, culture, and situations that would could hardly considered possible if she was not already on a quest to reunite with blood relatives and a history that has remained unknown well into adulthood.
After the reunification, Chomet found that her conflicted feelings were not entirely resolved and now had ideas even more challenging to her sense of self.
Having earned a M.F.A. in acting from New York University and then working with many theater groups both in the Twin Cities and nationally as an actor, dancer, and playwright, Chomet had a natural mechanism for coping and understanding.
Teaming with Rochester playwright and poet Katie Leo (who is also a Korean adoptee) to create a dyad of one woman plays entitled “The Origin(s) Project: Memoirs in Motion”
“I definitely wrote it for my own growth and health,” Chomet said. “There are so many in similar situations and there aren’t many role models to go to. We’re kind of the first pioneers of this international adoption thing.”
Chomet estimates that there are more than 10,000 Korean adoptees in Minnesota, and about 200 are at a given time actively seeking out their birth family in Korea.
Informal and accessible, “How to be a Korean woman” was intended to be a vessel for relating an adoptee’s journey as if the audience was sitting around a campfire listening to a very intricate story that becomes quite funny at times.
“The best way to get at really complex story is through humor,” Chomet said, noting that the humor pulls the story along, making it more understandable through contrast and irony.
“How to be a Korean Woman” was voted Best Solo Performance in Twin Cities Metro Area by Lavender Magazine.
Having written the play to create understanding for herself and others, Chomet has noticed that adoptees from other countries, as well as those who have not been directly impacted by adoption issues, have resonated with her journey and questioning.
Following the play, there will be a discussion period, “deconstructing adoption,” facilitated by Chomet and Leo.
“A play begins when people start talking about it and it ends when people stop thinking about it,” Chomet said.
“This is a play that people will be thinking about for years.”
For more information, please visit: http://originsprojectus.wordpress.com/
www.rochestercivictheatre.org
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