WOOGIE JUNG talks Reduced Shakespeare and his journey from Seoul

Interviewer: Pat Hayward 11th March 2026

With The Reduced Shakespeare Company bringing their hit “The Complete Works Of Shakespeare (abridged)” to Southampton at Mayflower Studios from 15^th to 18^th April, Overture’s Pat Hayward had a chance to chat with Woogie Jung, a young actor from Korea, about his journey from Seoul to Shakespeare.

PH: So Woogie let’s start by you telling me about the play The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged).

WJ: So, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) is a show where The Reduced Shakespeare Company, that is us, me, Efé, Tom and Kiran set out to do all of Shakespeare’s works, that’s 37 plays in the span of around, I think we’re currently at 90 minutes including an interval. Our goal is to get through all of the pieces. It’s a very funny and it’s quite an intellectual show – our kind of motto is that if you like Shakespeare, you’ll like the show; If you hate it, you’ll also like it because we’re able to be quite silly with it. While I think keeping with the original spirit of the plays, the show works quite well in some ways as it is kind of unexpected to be a comedy show. So, I think that’s like a kind of like brief introduction.

PH: I guess you play a number of different roles, with very different characterisations.

WJ: Yeah, I play, let’s see, I play Samson, Romeo, the nurse and the rapist in Titus Andronicus. I’m not sure what his name is. And then I play the witch in Macbeth. I play Caesar in Julius Caesar. And during most of Act two, Act 2 is entirely Hamlet. I play Polonius in the first half and Laertes in the second. So I play both father and son there.

PH: How, how did you get involved with the Reduced Shakespeare Company in the first place?

WJ: I was lucky enough to have an agent when I was graduating. And that agent has been with me so far and he’s gotten me this job. So like, in a sense, all of it has been very good for me, this process Well, there was an audition process. So first round was, you know, pretty standard. We went in, we did a monologue and then there was the second round for callbacks. They wanted to see our chemistry. And that’s actually me. Efé and Tom were at the callbacks together. They wanted us. They wanted to see us together. And apparently they were quite happy because they ended up picking all three of us out of the basket and then saying you guys should do it.

PH: So what got you interested in theatre in the first place?

WJ: Oh, wow. That’s a kind of a long story, I think. I first started doing theatre in high school in Korea. I don’t know what the equivalent of that is in the UK. I think its secondary school. I had always been quite, like, introverted and shy. And I remember my mother telling me that “you’re going into high school, you know, you should try something new, something different, something to get you out of your comfort zone”. And I remember back then at our school, this very new kind of thing, some students had just formed a musical theatre club, like a society to do after school things. And I thought that looked really fun. So I wanted to audition, but back then I was so shy I couldn’t go on my own. I basically, persuaded my best friend to come with me. So me and my best friend went and auditioned. And it was really funny because initially I didn’t get in and my best friend did. Oh, but a few months later, I think they had suffered some loss of cast members and they were a bit low on people. So the director texted me saying, “Hey, do you still want to do it?” And I had like a, you know, moment. So, I gave it some thought. And then I was like, you know what, I might as well try it. And then I did it and it kind of altered the course of my life entirely.

PH: So how old were you then and what came next?

WJ: Let’s see, that’s 10th grade. So I think 15. Oh, well, I went to college for my BA and I studied in America, which is why I sound like this. I think ’cause I did three years of after school theatre in high school. I really, really loved it. And I think even back then I kind of knew I wanted to do it as a profession, but I wasn’t sure I could crack it. I come from like a very academic family. And even the high school I went to was very focused on getting good grades and going to good colleges and getting respectable, white collar jobs so theatre really wasn’t something anybody thought was in the cards for me. So I went to a College in America to study. it was near Boston. Well, it’s in Massachusetts. It’s just a small liberal arts college called Williams College. It’s like a three hour drive from Boston. It’s quite secluded from everything. It’s in the middle of the mountains. It’s very quiet and nice. But yeah, that’s where I went.

PH: And from the backwaters of Massachusetts. What was your next big step?

WJ: Let’s see, I graduated with my BA and I think around the time I was graduating, I had the thought that if I do actually want to give theatre a shot I should overcome the fear. And, you know, I think especially in Korea, we have this idea that people who do anything in the arts are born to do it, you know, from a really young age and nobody should be dumb enough to try it after a certain age. So I always had that thought in the back of my head and like, am I cut out to do this? But I figured I wouldn’t know until I tried. And that’s why when I graduated, I was like, OK, I should actually learn how to act properly and see where that leads me. So I applied to some drama schools and I applied to a lot. I applied to London, like UK ones, because I knew UK drama schools were cheaper. They were shorter than the ones in the US And also there’s quite a practical reason because in the UK, if you do graduate drama school, there is a graduate visa where you can work in the UK for at least two years, which is what I’m currently on and which is how I’m doing this tour. That’s how I ended up in the UK and in London.

PH: So is this your first professional assignment?

WJ: I’d say so. I mean, I did do a feature film last summer, but that was only about like 4 days, with half a day of shoots. It was produced by this quite big company, and it was directed by Luca Guadagnino, the director of Call Me By Your Name. But that was such a short time. This is like my first extended, kind of professional job where I’m acting for such a long period of time.

PH: What do your family back at home think of your theatre tour in the UK?

WJ: They’re fascinated. I mean, I got the job. I got the e-mail that I got the role near the end of September last year. And I was due to go back to Korea for a little bit in October because we have basically our equivalent of Harvest Festival and it’s a big national holiday. So I went back home for that. And that means meeting family, catching up. And I remember feeling a great amount of relief when I went back home that I had booked this so I could be like, hey, I actually am doing this. And seeing some degree of success, whatever that word means. And I’m not just kind of like, fooling around. So I think overall, my family is a bit more positive about it now that they see that I can kind of survive on it.

PH: So when you were a little kid, really small, what did you think in your own mind you might possibly do one day when you grow up?

WJ: Oh, God, that’s a good question. You know, when you were a little kid, you have some silly ones. I think I wanted to be a scientist, specifically, one that dealt with robots because I loved robots and I loved cartoons, Transformers, all that kind of thing. Yeah, I think I wanted to be that for a little bit. My mum tells me that I used to say I wanted to be a chef. I don’t really remember that. And then I think around high school I thought, or middle school, I wanted to be like a therapist, studying psychology. But, it was kind of all over the place until I found theatre.

PH: So now you’re with Reduced Shakespeare Company and on tour. What do you, think about touring? I mean, I guess it’s something you haven’t done before,

WJ: . No, no, not at all. I actually met with my agent yesterday because he came to see my show and he was like saying yeah, touring is an art in itself. And I really feel that, because even this week, yesterday we were in Worcester, today we’re in Epsom, at the end of the week we’ll be in Coventry. These are all very different theatres with very different audiences. So just adjusting to that from a performance perspective is huge, but also staying healthy and staying sane while moving around so many places. I’ve never really been outside of London, since I got here. I just went to school here and that was kind of it. So for me, it’s the first time seeing a large part of this country and it’s very different everywhere I go. So I’m like, learning to get used to it and trying to find like, pillars of stability wherever I can.

PH: Do do do you find the other members of the company supportive in that?

WJ: Oh, yeah, very much. I mean, I honestly like, and this isn’t like just me saying it because I know this will go on your blog, but it’s the level of professionalism I’ve seen in this company and the level of support we have for each other is quite incredible. I feel very lucky. And I know that this isn’t the norm. We’d like it to be, but like I was telling my fellow cast members, I think a lot of times whether I was doing amateur drama or even when I was in drama school, I was always a little bit, not worried per se, but you’re like, oh, is everyone going to be on their best behaviour? Is everyone going to remember their notes? Is everyone going to do their job correctly? And with this company, I really don’t feel like I have to worry about that. And I feel very supported and that I can trust my fellow cast members to have my back, even if I make a mistake, like forget my blocking, forget my lines. I kind of know that my other cast members are more than capable of picking up the slack there, which is quite nice.

PH: When you you mentioned going to theatre school in London, Where, where in fact did you go?

WJ: I went to a drama school called East 15 Acting School. It’s in Essex, near the end of the Central Line, actually in Loughton. For me it was a confusing experience. There were ups and downs. I think for me, it was a net positive because like I said before, I had never had formal acting training before. So for me, everything was new and just like, being immersed in doing this every day was helpful just by virtue of the sheer amount of experience you get doing it. I actually remember thinking around the time I was graduating that I wish I could actually go back and do it again not because I miss school, but because I felt like it took me those two years to kind of get my body ready to act properly, to be able to receive everything. So in that sense, it was quite helpful. And I keep coming back to things our tutors would teach us, maybe I wasn’t ready to be able to properly absorb it back then. But later when I was warmed I remember the things like, my voice teacher told me, our movement teacher told us, And I feel more ready to actually digest it, if that makes sense.

PH: What is what do you anticipate doing in the future? What are your dreams?

WJ: I have absolutely no idea. Honestly, right now I’m just kind of focused on surviving this tour. God, it’s been quite a physical show and I guess all comedic shows are, but there’s so much running around. And so right now I’m just focused on staying healthy and keeping alive. But ideally I’d like to be able to work in the UK more. Something that blew me away when I first arrived here, is the amount of theatre that goes on in this country and the kind of general interest in theatre by the public. In Korea, theatre is still a very niche form of entertainment and art. Whereas here everyone at least gets to watch theatre, I think maybe once in a year, even if it’s just to see a panto. And that kind of widespread enjoyment leads to a bigger market. That means there’s more opportunity for new works, ones that don’t fit into pre-existing categories. There is more room for those works to flourish and that makes for a lot of really good art. So that’s something I like and respect about what the UK and London have in general. So I’d like to be able to stay here and build my career and get to participate in those new works. And not even just new works, but also existing works that are produced by great theatre makers. Well, yes I think for the next few years at least, I’d like to be able to stay and build my career here. My first 2 year visa is set to finish at the end like September this year. And so now I will apply for the artist global talent visa,

PH: In the future what do you think the opportunities will be for you and other people like you to actually return home to to Korea and bring theatre with you?

WJ: Maybe sometime in the future, but not now, definitely with a view of accelerating the growth of theatre through the country. I’d love to. It’s one of those things you see later in your career, but like, I know, just like the kind of acting, what do you call it? I think you call it the pedagogy here, the amount of thought that goes into its education and how it’s taught is just so well done. And it’s kind of one of the reasons why I wanted to study in the UK ’cause there is a lot more depth to the teaching. Rationally and in a more understandable way as opposed to a lot of acting education that can be a bit more like like feeling and it’s a bit intangible. Eventually I’d love to be able to go back to Korea and spread that. I always think of myself that I’d love to be an educator at some point in my career. I’d love to be a teacher And I think it’s because I’ve always had such a hard time, I think getting it. I used to read a lot of like, acting books and I used to try to figure out how I can do my acting better, especially when I wasn’t in drama school, when I was doing amateur drama. And yeah, a lot of it frustrated me. And I felt like, is there something wrong with me? Like, why isn’t this sticking? Like I feel it shouldn’t be this hard and a lot of those struggles, I hope that when I am an educator, I can help students overcome a bit more quickly. And that’s kind of my long term dream slash goal is to become that kind of educator and problem solver.

PH: Well, Woogie, many thanks for your time today, I’m really looking forward to seeing you in Southampton in April and meanwhile, I hope the tripping between cities isn’t too stressful for you and that you get the chance to enjoy some of the pleasures that each city will have on offer.