When tragedy strikes Danwon High School, the mothers gather to put on a talent their children never had the chance to perform.

It’s been three years since an amateur theater troupe started by a group of middle-aged women began staging its productions. The mothers are more anxious than ever about who will take the lead role. In this space, rather than refer to each other by their names, they refer to each other as “So-and-so’s mother. Yejin, Yongman, Soonbum, and their fellow classmates all lost their lives on that fateful day. Their current production, The Talent Show, is the story of their children, who had prepared for a talent show before embarking on their trip to Jeju Island. In the play version, the children arrive safely on the island, and are able to take the stage. All the mothers want to take on the starring role, “This was who my child was.” So the mothers rehearse for auditions and prepare to fight over the lead role.

In South Korea, the Sewol ferry disaster is associated with a “national trauma.” The emotional impact of the tragedy that so many of the victims were young school children.In 2019, the group created from school’s parents. “Talent Show” tells the story of a talent show the Danwon High School students had been preparing before leaving for their school trip to Jeju Island. In the play, the children arrive safely on the island, and are able to put on the show. These mothers, who would never have met if the tragedy had never occurred, performing in every possible venue they can find. Through the play, the mothers are able to reconnect with their lost children and see them again in a new light.