Actor Yoon Na Moo delicately portrayed the inner life of Wiesler with a deeper level of acting and marked the finale of the play "The Lives of Others."
Yoon Na Moo successfully completed the promised run on the 13th at LG Arts Center Seoul U+ Stage with the final performance of the play "The Lives of Others." Having again taken on the role of Gerd Wiesler after the 2024 premiere, he firmly carried the center of the work by densely portraying the process in which a cold secret policeman, unmoved before his duty, observes others' lives and gradually changes.
"The Lives of Others" is a stage adaptation of the film of the same name by director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, adapted for the stage by director Sohn Sang-kyu. Set in East Germany on the eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall, it raises questions about surveillance and control, art and freedom, and human conscience and choice through the story of State Security secret police Wiesler monitoring playwright Dreyman and actress Christa.
In the play, Gerd Wiesler, played by Yoon Na Moo, is a secret policeman with a firm belief in the socialist system and the state. Previously moving with cold precision and without wavering in the face of duty, he, while wiretapping Dreyman and Christa's daily life, comes face to face with love and friendship, and the frustrations and pains experienced by artists. And he begins to harbor doubts, little by little, about the world he had firmly believed in.
Yoon Na Moo added conviction to the character by expressing Wiesler's change as an accumulation of subtle tremors rather than dramatic emotional outbursts. In the early part of the play, he depicted a person completely assimilated into the system with precise movements, a firm tone, and an unwavering gaze, but as he delved deeper into others' lives, he revealed cracks within the character through changing eyes, breathing, and slight facial expressions.
Especially, he strengthened the character's transformation by meticulously building the emotional line from a Wiesler full of conviction to one who doubts and ultimately chooses according to his conscience. In the scene where suppressed emotions have piled up and burst at the last moment, Yoon Na Moo's delicate yet explosive performance shone and completed the play's climax.
His distinctive presence on stage cannot be overlooked. In "The Lives of Others," Yoon Na Moo did not remain confined to the listening room but circled like a shadow around the monitored Dreyman and Christa, creating tension. Existing on stage as an invisible watcher and an observer who sees everything, he changed the atmosphere of scenes with minimal movement and gaze, delivering an intense sense of immersion.
Above all, the process in which Wiesler's gaze at others changes from "surveillance" to "understanding" was conveyed more clearly through Yoon Na Moo's restrained acting. Small changes expressed in expressions, breathing, and gaze, rather than words, convincingly showed the character's vast inner change and captured the audience's attention.
After the final performance, Yoon Na Moo said, "Wiesler was a character who wanted to see, hear and speak as he was. I think the many moments I discovered within him built this season," and added, "I felt I threw my body and mind onto the stage to fully immerse every part of my body and mind from head to toe into the play without any disorder."
He continued, "I want to say that I pray Wiesler will live by showing humanity in a new life that now looks different. I hope our performance becomes a page of a book that the audience can take out and read whenever they need it in life. I was grateful because of that," and conveyed his gratitude to the audience.
Having been with "The Lives of Others" through the premiere and into the second season, Yoon Na Moo completed his own Wiesler with even deeper density. Having shown a wide acting spectrum in various works such as the play "Repairing the Living," "On the Beat," the musical "Showman_the fourth double of a dictator," and "Laika," he once again proved his solid acting chops in this work by depicting a person's massive transformation through restrained expression alone.
After successfully finishing "The Lives of Others," Yoon Na Moo moves on to his next work without rest. From Oct. 25 to Dec. 6, he will appear as Clemence in the play "The Fall" at TOM Theater 2 in Seoul's Daehangno, meeting audiences with another face.
[Photo] Provided by Project Group Ilda
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