Cordelia Sword of the Wind makes its Off-Broadway debut as part of United Solo's 2025 Spring Festival. Written and performed by Jiyoung Choi, the solo play reimagines Shakespeare's King Lear, focusing on Lear and Cordelia's relationship while set in thirteenth-century Korea.
Choi centers this story on Cordelia's commitment to caring for and protecting her father, King Lear, against the rules that govern women of her place and time. This interpretation sees Cordelia, Lear's youngest and most loyal daughter, as an experienced swordsman who has committed herself to the principles of a soldier, cast out of the kingdom and using her martial skills to return to her father's side and protect him from her older sisters' armies.
Those familiar with Lear will recall Cordelia's absence from the middle of Shakespeare's play before she returns from banishment. Like many Lear directors, Choi is not satisfied with leaving Cordelia out of the narrative. As such, Choi's Cordelia takes it upon herself to disguise herself as a soldier and then as a clown to remain by her father's side when he is cast out of his former kingdom. This is a great opportunity to add dimension and color to Cordelia's character while she is being tested by the pressures of the fall of the kingdom.
The show's music created an enveloping atmosphere. It blended classical and contemporary instrumentation to augment key moments in Cordelia's story and underscored dramatic movement sequences well, though it was difficult to hear Choi's dialogue during certain music-enhanced sequences. The music was best paired with Choi's sword-fighting sequences, which made these moments a major highlight of the performance.
It is a rare treat to see swordwork in a solo performance. Choi employs stunning segments of solo combat choreography, which, combined with her various classical costumes and swords used at different moments in the story, create beautiful visuals flowing with movement and energy.
Though the story is clear, the play's language can sometimes feel stilted. This is a natural challenge in bringing a story adapted for Korean audiences to an English-speaking stage. It is evident that a substantial amount of work was put into making this story clear and accessible to a broad range of audiences.
Cordelia Sword of the Wind is a creative installment in the ever-growing and evolving realm of international adaptations of Shakespeare.
Written and Performed by Jiyoung Choi
Production: Young Company
Dramaturg: Dong Eae Kim
March 18, 2025
March 18 through April 20, 2025
Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, NYC)
Rita Frances Welch is… Wait, who’s asking? There are a few answers depending on the context. Rita is A) A New York playwright, actor, and director, B) The owner of 5 discrete copies of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, C) A force of nature, controlled by the tides and called to by the wind, disappearing and returning like the seasons. More material than their author, Rita’s plays have been produced by The Tank, Theatre X, Playwrights Performance, and Rogue Theatre Festival. They hold a B.F.A. in Acting from Shenandoah Conservatory, during which they studied under LAByrinth Theater’s Martha Wollner and Padraic Lillis. Rita’s writing functions as an experiment- a combination of characters in the petri dish of their world, their personal challenges and delusions in a vacuum, isolating for every variable but one: Human nature, which reveals itself every time. ritafranceswelch.com
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