Girl group STAYC member Sieun is taking on musical Seopyeonje, and the experimental two-actor-one-role casting has sparked heated debate.
On the 2nd, the musical Seopyeonje announced its 2026 season casting lineup. Among them, STAYC Sieun was also listed for the lead role Songhwa, drawing attention. However, at the same time, Sieun paired with Jeong Eun-hye for the young Songhwa and elderly Songhwa roles, which sparked controversy over special treatment.
Seopyeonje is a musical adaptation of Lee Chang-jun's short story of the same name. Because the original was also made into a film by director Im Kwon-taek in the past, it is a familiar work, and as an original musical that captures Korean sentiment well, it has consistently been loved by theater fans.
Among them, Songhwa is the lead character who drives the storyline. It is well known as a difficult character who must perform both pansori and pop-style musical numbers with Han Se-rin's voice as she ages from a girl to an elderly woman.
Especially for the 2026 season, besides STAYC Sieun, Lee Ja-ram, Cha Ji-yeon and Lee Bom-sori will also play Songhwa. Lee Ja-ram and Cha Ji-yeon have been active since Seopyeonje's premiere. Lee Bom-sori and Sieun will meet audiences as the new Songhwa. But among these, only Sieun is cast as a two-actor-one-role pair divided into young Songhwa and elderly Songhwa, prompting allegations of special treatment.
In announcing the casting, production company Page One said that the pair casting of Sieun and Jeong Eun-hye for the two-actor-one-role was a new attempt that created the elderly Songhwa role. Because Seopyeonje is returning after four years, they said they sought to expand casting terrain more openly than before and to broaden the scope of casting so that young and promising actors could more actively take on the work.
However, being a pair casting does not mean there will be changes to numbers or performance composition. Because of this, audience reactions have been sharply divided. Critics say the loose link between elderly Songhwa and young Songhwa could rather undermine Seopyeonje's existing appeal or immersive narrative, which is driven by Songhwa's growth and change.
Moreover, STAYC Sieun's comment on the platform where she communicates with fans about the pair casting — "It would be a bit of a stretch for me to play a 70-year-old with my face; there could be some disconnect. They say I'm the youngest Songhwa. It is burdensome in many ways" — has also drawn criticism.
What's more, Cha Ji-yeon was 27 when she first played Songhwa at the premiere, only two years older than STAYC Sieun, who is 25 this year, and Jeong Eun-hye, who will play the elderly Songhwa, is younger than Cha Ji-yeon and Lee Ja-ram, who each handled Songhwa alone from youth to old age. There has been a continuing reaction that it is hard to accept pair casting when existing actors such as Lee Ja-ram and Cha Ji-yeon could single-handedly portray a character that transcends age, and the pair casting does not even show an age gap.
[Photo] OSEN DB, provided by Page One.
[OSEN]