Welcome to Pyongyang tells the story of an American soldier who defected to North Korea and was forced to rebuild his life in what many people consider one of the strangest societies on earth, and certainly one of the most mysterious. While based on a true story, the events and characters have been fictionalized in order to explore themes such ideology an identity, and the clash between those concepts and the need for survival.

I came across this story originally because the events partially took place in, and deeply affected the community of, a part of rural Japan I lived in earlier in much in my life. As I dove into the real-life events, I was struck by how it was actually quite difficult to discern exactly what did happen, which made it even more interesting. As I wrote the story, it allows me to explore themes that I often touch on - namely those of identity and how people justify their actions.

I first chose to turn this into a full-length stage play as I believe in the power of storytelling to introduce people to new historical events and themes, while avoiding the ‘lecturing’ that many people dislike about formal education. It is an approach I admire in other playwrights, and works well for someone like myself who is obsessed with language and dialogue.

I am also working on a novel version of this story, and am exploring the writing of a non-fiction ‘true story of’ accompanying book as well.

The play is ready for performance and I am interested to hear from people who would like to stage it. All other version remain in draft as of the writing of this.

At its core, this is less a story about politics or international relations, and more a narrative about why humans make the choices they do, and the extreme ability possessed by all of us to adapt in almost any circumstances.