A celebration of "You for Me for You" by Mia Chung

Beatrice Salazar, Elliana Johnson & Isabelle Park in a filed of Kimjongilia flowers. (photo credit: Ray Nard Imagemaker)

I originally saw You for Me for You by Mia Chung with a group of students at the Portland Playhouse (Oregon) in 2016, and was deeply moved by the story. On the van ride back home, it was clear that my students had been moved as well. The van was filled with quiet reflections on what they had witnessed, what the play meant, and how it might influence their work as emerging artists in a world shaped by complex politics, an international turmoil, American consumerism and the power of family relationships. Since then, You for Me for You has been a primary text in my American Theatre History course.

For those of you who don’t know the story, here’s a quick synopsis of the play.

Claudia Hwang (Minhee), enters the well. (photo credit: Ray Nard Imagemaker)

Chung tells the story of two North Korean sisters. Junhee, the youngest, sees the tyranny in North Korea for what it is, and wants to flee the country. Minhee, the eldest, believes in the benevolence of the North Korean government even though her husband has gone missing (presumably executed in a North Korean gulag), and her only child has died from pneumonia after being “re-educated” by the government.

After an incident at a doctor’s office, in which Junhee inappropriately demands more medication for Minhee’s chronic respiratory illness, Junhee and Minhee make a dash for the border. During the crossing, Minhee falls into a dry well, while Junhee makes it safely to the other side. 

At this point the play makes a dramatic shift into the surreal. Junhee spends the next three years in the United States gaining enough power to come back to save Minhee. In the meantime, Minhee spends three hours in the bottom of the well in which she has a dream-like experience that forces her to confront the brutality of the North Korean government. While both journeys are fraught with personal challenges for the women, Chung’s poetic landscapes create a lens that help us digest the human costs of defection and immigration. At the end of the play, we discover that the three years in the United States equals the three hours in the well. Ultimately, Junhee is killed when she comes back to the border to save Minhee, while Minhee makes it to South Korea to start a new life, alone.

Ellie Cocking (Junhee), Ashlynn Blankenship (Liz). (photo credit: Ray Nard Imagemaker

While Minhee and Junhee’s

story exposes the brutality of the North Korean regime, it also allows us to experience America’s socio-economic systems through the eyes of a newly arrived immigrant. Ultimately, Chung doesn’t let the United States off the hook as Junhee struggles to adjust to a fast paced world in which everything, including happiness, is for sale. As both sisters yearn for freedom, we are left to wonder what it means to be free and what restricts us from being fully human in both worlds.

When my American Theatre class read the play in spring 2025, a handful of our Asian American theatre students fell in love with it. During the following weeks, we began to talk about what it might mean for Hope’s theatre department, and for our students, to produce the play during the 2025-26 season. We gathered our students for a meeting, and ultimately, all of our Asian and Asian American theatre majors and minors unanimously agreed that they would like the department to produce the play - the first in Hope’s history to feature a majority Asian, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AAANHPI) cast. They also gave me their blessing to serve as the play’s director, as long as appropriate cultural consultants guided the process. Within a few weeks the Asian Student Union (ASU) and the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) volunteered to partner with us on the production, and You for Me for You became Hope’s AAANHPI Heritage Lecture / Event for 2026.

In many ways, producing a play like You for Me for You on Hope’s predominantly white campus, is the pinnacle of what I dream about and hope for as a teaching artist in a liberal arts institution. When a diverse learning community rallies behind a story that is complex, international in scope, packed with difficult questions about defection, immigration, and family dynamics and is also filled with artistic challenges, the opportunities for personal and collective growth are immense. 

 Photo credit: Ray Nard Imagemaker

We were blessed early in the creative process when Jungah Han, a South Korean scenic designer with Broadway credits and a professor at the University of Michigan, agreed to serve as our scenic designer. After a few months of collaboration, Jungah designed a beautiful Korean pavilion with eight traditional sliding panels that not only unified the visual world but also facilitated swift transitions between the play’s twenty-seven scenes. Most importantly, Jungah’s pavilion allowed Eric Van Tassell, our lighting designer, to create some stunning visual worlds to amplify both Minhee’s surreal landscapes and Junhee’s stark journey through the United States. With Ken Chamberlain’s compelling sound design, Kevin MacLeod’s playful prop design, and Michelle Bombe’s detailed costume design, we managed to create a stunning visual world together.

However, while I am deeply satisfied with the overall production concept, nothing compares to the joy of watching your students excel. For some of our actors, it was the first opportunity in their acting careers to portray characters who reflected their racial identities and ancestral heritage. The ensemble’s collaborative work in the rehearsal room, their willingness to play, to share their own experiences and to lean into the difficult subject matter of the play while honing their craft, is really what made this production special. Under the guidance of our cultural consultant, Dr. Mihyun Han, Associate Professor of Education at Hope, our students created a beautiful and compelling story that will continue to resonate with our audiences for years to come.

Put that all together, and you end up with something magical.

During the second week of performances, Mia Chung came to campus to see the play and to participate in the post-production talkback for Hope’s AAANHPI Heritage Lecture. It was the first college production of the play that Mia had ever seen, and she was delighted with the work. Claudia Hwang (ASU president and the actor who played Minhee) and Isabelle Park (an ASU trustee, the production’s choreographer, and one of its dancers) interviewed Chung during the talkback while approximately 250 audience members listened. 

Mia Chung, Claudia Hwang, Isabelle Park. (photo credit: Polly Khorn)

Watching Claudia, Isabelle and Mia onstage is one of my proudest moments as a Quaker theatre maker and educator. A nationally recognized playwright sat on our stage engaged in a compelling conversation with two students who were instrumental in bringing the production to life. We didn’t need an official Hope College professor, designer, or academic specialist to interview Mia. We simply needed to get out of the way, and let our students lead. 

When we honor the Light within our students, regardless of who they are, and allow them to lead, we give them the opportunity to shine. In turn, they inspire us to continue to lean into the world's deepest concerns with courage, love and grace.

It was a delight to have students lead the way from the very beginning of the process to its final moment. That’s what educational theatre is all about.

May your students, and this rising generation, continue to inspire you.

Rhett (June, 2026)