Actor Park Jung-min. Photo by reporter Lee Seon-myeong 57km@kyunghyang.com

Amid this unprecedented situation, actor Park Jung-min remains silent.

The play ‘Life of Pi’ stated on the 11th, “A sudden technical issue occurred with some lighting equipment before the performance, and although we attempted recovery, we determined that proceeding would be difficult, so we were inevitably forced to cancel the performance scheduled for today”.

It continued, “During final checks, the lighting equipment failed to operate due to an unidentified issue, and considering safety, we decided to cancel” and “We sincerely apologize to the audience who took valuable time to come to the theater for the inconvenience”.

‘Life of Pi’, which was to start at 7:30 p.m. on the 10th, notified the audience of the cancellation at 7:25 p.m. that day due to a technical defect, five minutes before showtime. In effect, the notice came when most audience members were already seated.

The production company offered full refunds of ticket prices plus an additional 10% in compensation, but complaints have not stopped due to clumsy handling.

Park Jung-min was scheduled to appear in the performance that day, and a Curtain Call Day event had also been prepared, but these were not fulfilled. Because Park Jung-min draws strong ticket demand, some who came to see him also voiced complaints such as “I took a day off and came from out of town” and “What about the transportation and lodging costs?”.

The production company cited a technical defect (a lighting issue) as the reason for cancellation, but it also invited criticism for failing to discover the problem during rehearsal or pre-check stages. As ‘Life of Pi’ is a work whose core is high-level puppet techniques and stage direction, there are also claims that this amounts to acknowledging deficiencies in the production company system.

The ‘110%’ refund is merely an obligation under the rules (under the Consumer Dispute Resolution Standards, when the operator is at fault) and appears far from sufficient to compensate for transportation and lodging costs borne by out-of-town patrons, or for the opportunity cost of using leave.

Damage to the image of lead actor Park Jung-min also seems inevitable, as most attendees essentially came to see Park Jung-min, the face of the production.

The silence of the actors is also inviting criticism. There is also criticism that if the actors had taken the stage at the time the cancellation was announced, when most audience members were seated, to offer an apology or ask for understanding, public sentiment would not be as harsh as it is now. Following the production company, the actors as well are said to have neglected courtesy toward the audience.

An industry insider said, “When a same-day cancellation occurs in a musical or play, it is customary for the lead actor to apologize with a stage greeting or to post an apology on social networking services (SNS), one of the channels for communicating with fans, to soothe the audience” and added, “Have they forgotten that musicals and plays are a fandom business?”.

Park Jung-min has thus far maintained silence regarding this situation, and disappointment among many audience members is expected to continue.