Actor Yoon Namoo successfully concluded the 2025 season of the play On the Beat (directed by Min Saerom).
Yoon Namoo played the boy Adrien, who is on the autism spectrum, filling the stage in On the Beat, which ran from Aug. 19 to Oct. 12 at Dongguk University Lee Hae-rang Art Theater.
On the Beat is based on the original work by French actor and director Cédric Chapuis and tells the coming-of-age story of Adrien, who perceives every sound as rhythm. In a story where he transforms the noise of the world into music and builds his own world, Yoon Namoo delivered a powerful resonance to the audience through the confession of a boy for whom the drum is life and language.
Yoon Namoo flawlessly handled 110 minutes of nonstop drumming, rapid-fire lines, and scenes where emotional waves intersected. His live drum performance on the spot, graceful movements, and the ability to move freely between pure and sensitive emotional lines maximized audience immersion.
As the sole actor on stage, Yoon Namoo completed Adrien's world through every line, sound, movement, and expression while bearing the burden of leading the play from beginning to end. His performance was praised for stimulating the audience's imagination and delicately portraying the inner purity of a person who communicates with the world through "rhythm" in a noise- and dissonance-filled world.
In particular, his drumming, which traversed diverse rhythms such as jazz, bossa nova and rock, proved his outstanding concentration and passion. At times running through the audience and exuding vibrant energy, Yoon Namoo's performance drew rave reviews such as "a completeness that feels like watching a person's entire life," "it offered a new perspective for seeing the world through sound and acting," and "from the premiere to the revival, Adrien without Yoon Namoo is unimaginable."
After the performance, Yoon Namoo expressed his gratitude, saying, "Thanks to the passionate love of the audience who came to experience the expanded world of Adrien, all of our actors and production staff were able to finish strongly until the end," and added, "From the premiere to the revival, we wondered whether we could reach endless passion for Adrien and filled each performance well. Although it has been two years since we met, I think Adrien's world will continue passionately into the future."
He also added about the original play Thunder, which he prepared for a long time, "As the actors and staff all diligently did their best in their respective roles, I will do my utmost to craft it so that audiences can have a new experience and impression."
Following the musicals Laika and Showman_A dictator's fourth understudy earlier this year and the play On the Beat, Yoon Namoo, who has been active in a variety of projects, is set to appear in the original play Thunder, which opens Nov. 11 at Urang 2-gyeong of the Urang Culture Foundation.
[Photo] Provided by Gram Entertainment
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