What If Jang Yeong-sil Vanished from the Annals and Became Da Vinci’s Mentor in Europe?
Creatrip Team
2 months ago
The new Korean musical “The Man in Hanbok” reimagines the disappearance of Joseon-era genius inventor Jang Yeong-sil from the official annals as a journey to Europe, where he may have shaped Renaissance culture and even mentored a young Leonardo da Vinci. Framed by a modern documentary crew tracing clues from Peter Paul Rubens’ painting “Man in Hanbok,” the two-act show contrasts a warm, palace-centered first act focused on Jang’s bond with King Sejong with a brisk, imaginative second act that stages his political exile and confrontation with a vast, foreign Europe. Notable features include striking set design that highlights the split worlds, actors doubling past and present roles (1인 2역), and a score blending traditional Korean instruments like daechwita and taepyeongso with Western orchestra. Critics praise its scale and inventive cultural fusion, though some feel the Da Vinci storyline in Act II overshadows the carefully built Sejong–Jang relationship from Act I.
