Quad, Questions in Theater: *Why the Chili Peppers on the Rooftop Garden?*

An old, run-down multi-family house on the outskirts of Seoul. Neighbors, each with their own stories and struggles, live there. One summer day under the blazing sun, an incident occurs in the small rooftop garden of an elderly woman named “Gwangja,” who was modestly growing chili peppers: all of her chili peppers disappear. The culprit who took all the chili peppers is none other than “Hyun-ja,” a neighbor living in the same apartment building. The neighbors each have their own take on the matter, but to “Hyun-tae” of Apartment 301, this “chili theft incident” does not seem like a trivial matter. He believes it is connected to the world falling apart. While Hyun-tae’s words make not only his family but everyone in the apartment complex uncomfortable, only one person—Dong-gyo from Apartment 303—begins to help Hyun-tae for reasons unknown. The squabble between neighbors that started over a few chili peppers begins to escalate into a massive commotion throughout the entire apartment complex.

〈2026 Quad: Questions of Theater: Evolving Texts〉 This project focuses on the “text”—the very essence of theater—and explores the present and future of contemporary theater through the power of plays, which are constantly reinterpreted across the ages. From William Shakespeare to modern plays and contemporary Korean theatrical texts, these five works are reimagined and re-evolved through the vision of five master directors—Kim A-ra, Kim Gwang-bo, Kim Woo-ok, Lee Seong-yeol, and Han Tae-sook—who led the golden age of Korean theater. 〈Why the Chili Peppers from the Rooftop Garden?〉 Premiered in 2017 as a collaboration between director Kim Gwang-bo and playwright Jang Woo-jae, the play begins with a very trivial and everyday dispute—“Someone picked the chili peppers from the rooftop garden”—and and is a masterpiece that meticulously examines the monstrous nature of capitalism and the moral bankruptcy plaguing South Korean society.