Crazy: For Jonghyun

Convention skit
Title	Crazy: For Jonghyun
Fandom(s)	SHINee
Troupe	Emerging Artists Theatre
Date(s)	2022
Type(s)	professional play
Location(s)	New York
Related articles on Fanlore.

Crazy: For Jonghyun is a canceled, one-act play that was set to be performed by New York City-based theater company, Emerging Artists Theatre, in April of 2022. Its existence generated notable backlash fans over its inappropriate and insensitive use of the passing of Kim Jonghyun, member of kpop group SHINee, in December of 2017.

The Play's Contents

Crazy: For Jonghyun was a short play scheduled to be performed by the troupe Emerging Artists Theatre at the TADA! Theater on 6 April 2022 at 7pm as part of their New Work Series. It was written by Susan W. Chamberlin, produced by Eliza Cass, and directed by Graydon Gund. The run time was either 13 or 15 minutes depending on the source. Tickets cost $20.

The title of the play might be a homage to Jonghyun's song "Crazy (Guilty Pleasure) (feat. Iron)" released as part of his debut mini-album, Base, in 2015.

The description of the play was given as follows:

Bored and despondent over her empty life, Haru seeks answers from her favorite K-pop idol, Jonghyun. Jonghyun’s tender lyrics of longing and charismatic stage presence gave him millions of fans worldwide. Still, the adoration of stans could not stop his emotional unraveling. Since Jonghyun could not find the answers to life’s questions for himself, how can he possibly help Haru? The two spar over questions of love and life in a disconnected world. A dark comedy about suicide, Crazy: for Jonghyun asks, “Can the dead save the living?”

Emerging Artists Theatre https://web.archive.org/web/20220401212729/https://www.emergingartiststheatre.org/new_works_series/crazy-for-jonghyun/

It is unclear exactly when the play was announced. The first capture on the WayBack Machine dates to April 1st. By April 3rd, the page had been taken down.

Fan Response

It is unknown how SHINee fans, known as Shawols, became aware of the play's existence, but it had caught their attention by the evening/night of April 1st. Calls for mass spam campaigns through mediums such as e-mail were called for in response to the controversy.

Fans were specifically angered by the use of a real person's passing, which had only occurred five years prior, due to suicide as fodder for a "dark comedy" play without the knowledge and consent of his family. Fans also criticized the troupe for profiting off of Jonghyun's death; however, due Emerging Artists Theatre's registration as a non-profit, they were not doing so-- at least financially.

// dec 18th @EATisTweeting making a play out of a real person's passing without the consent of the family, and worse, turning the suicide of him into a comedy and profiting off of it, is disgusting. I hope you reconsider showing this play, this is incredibly respectless.

@crabwol, 2 April 2022 https://x.com/crabwol/status/1510153850455535616?s=46&t=29cCL2vN4RVOZjzwtTBa4A

During the backlash, it was reported that the troupe's social media team was blocking those who called out the scheduled play for being disrespectful and inappropriate.

Cancellation

On the morning of 2 April 2022, the Emerging Artists Theatre reported that it was in discussion with the play's "creator/producer" regarding the backlash.

About an hour later, the account was updated again with the play's cancellation.

Emerging Artists Theatre has removed the 13-minute play, "Crazy for Jonghyun" from the lineup in our New Work Series and canceled the presentation. Our thanks to those who have called this sensitive matter to our attention.

EATheatreNYC 2 April 2022 https://x.com/EATheatreNYC/status/1510238254255194124

While some fans continued to call for an apology to Jonghyun's family, none was ever given and the controversy died down rather quickly.

In response to these discussions, Twitter user @aquariancity provided some context for how a play like this might have been greenlit.

I wish kpop stans would just relax a little on this. Organizations like Emerging Artists Theatre are just meant to be non-discriminatory launchpads for artists to use at their discretion.They are just a resource for these artists to use and don’t involve themselves in the nuances

As someone who worked for something similar in the music sector, because there is pressure to churn out numbers, there often isn’t extensive research beyond reading the script or watching a submission. Anyway my point is ultimately they are a good cause who shouldn’t be shut down

I genuinely think most of this should be on the writer, who I still think was acting selfishly. But they’re also probably protecting them so they can keep a career.

@aquariancity, 2 April 2022 https://x.com/aquariancity/status/1510264449516646402?s=46&t=29cCL2vN4RVOZjzwtTBa4A

The contents of the play have never surfaced and no further attempts to produce it have been known.

Status As a Fanwork

Generally, the play's potential status as a fanwork was not discussed at the time. At least one Twitter user likened the play to "real person fanfiction" in their denouncement of its contents. While not much is known about the individuals behind the play and if they were ever fans of SHINee or Jonghyun, the insensitivity regarding Jonghyun's passing that has often been portrayed by non-fans looking for a "gotcha" moment indicates that the play was most likely not created with genuine fannish intentions.