JOURNEY TO THE EAST
 

ABANDONED, FOUND AND ADOPTED

- A STORY OF IDENTITY

Mona Grenne was delivered to Holt Children Services in Seoul at the age of 2 and a half, and adopted to Norway when she was almost 3 years old. As the first among some 7000 adopted children from South Korea to Norway, her story of searching for her mother and identity will be presented as a play on a Norwegian stage, premiering September 23rd 2014 at Caféteatret, Nordic Black Theatre in Oslo.

We meet Mona´s own process from abandoned, found, adopted – which are central elements in the comprehensive material that playwright Nelly Winterhalder was inspired by when she wrote the play Journey to the East.

The story examines the themes of wanting to know who you are, wishing to belong and needing to define your own sense of belonging. The documentary, up close and personal, is put in a mystical framework in the Asian metropolis jungle of Seoul, where past, present and future meet. The adventure is a journey with several levels both emotional, physical, and temporal, where the lead character is looking for her biological mother. This is the journey towards finding oneself and one's roots with universal questions concerning identity, where one belongs, and why.