The History of Korean Western Theatre (한국연극의 역사)
Theatre Performance | 60min | Premiered in 2020
© Leontien Allemeersch
© Leontien Allemeersch
© Leontien Allemeersch
© Leontien Allemeersch
about
Celebrating the centenary of Korean theatre in 2008, Jaha Koo realized that there is actually no space for Korean theatre tradition: what is regarded as Korean theatre is largely determined by the Western canon. But why are the South Koreans so proud of this Western interpretation? And why does everyone keep referring to Shakespeare? It raises questions about tradition, self-censorship and authenticity.
In this final piece of his Hamartia trilogy, Jaha Koo resolutely focuses on the future. Meticulously, he exposes the tragic impact of the past on our lives, unveiling the small cracks in modern Confucianism - an ideology that continues to define the moral system, way of life and social relations between generations in South Korea. With a new generation of South Koreans in mind, he attempts to break with a tradition full of self-censorship and keeping up appearances. Because only when based on an authentic version of history, he can pass on a future to the next generation.
Like the performances Lolling & Rolling and Cuckoo, which respectively focused on South Korea's past and present, The History of Korean Western Theatre is an intelligent documentary theatre performance in which Jaha Koo interweaves personal stories with historical, political and sociological facts. Often themes that contain a clash of Eastern and Western culture: From cutting string of tongue to make it in the West, to the heavy personal toll of Western interference on a macroeconomic level.
credit
concept, text, direction, music, video: Jaha Koo
performance: Jaha Koo, Seri, Toad
dramaturgy: Dries Douibi
scenography, drawing: Eunkyung Jeong
artistic advisor: Pol Heyvaert
technical: Korneel Coessens, Koen Goossens, Anne Meeussen, Philippe Digneffe, Jan Berkmans, Bart Huybrechts
production coordination: Wim Clapdorp
hardware hacking: Idella Craddock
research: Eunkyung Jeong, Jaha Koo
research assistance: Sang Ok Kim
interview: Jooyoung Koh, Kiran Kim, Kyungmi Lee
production: CAMPO (Gent)
co-production: Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), Münchner Kammerspiele, Frascati Producties (Amsterdam), Veem House for Performance (Amsterdam), SPRING performing arts festival (Utrecht), Zürcher Theaterspektakel, Black Box teater (Oslo), International Summer Festival Kampnagel (Hamburg), Tanzquartier Wien, wpZimmer (Antwerp), Théâtre de la Bastille (Paris), Festival d’Automne à Paris
residency: Kunstencentrum BUDA (Kortrijk), wpZimmer (Antwerp), Decoratelier Jozef Wouters (Brussels), Doosan Art Center (Seoul)
support: Beursschouwburg (Brussels), Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst
MAY 08-10, MAY 13-16, 2020
MAY 19-20, 2020
JUN 05-06, 2020
AUG 27-30, 2020
AUG 27-29, 2020
SEP 02-03, 2020
SEP 23-26, SEP 28 - OCT 01, 2020
OCT 07-08, 2020
OCT 11, 2020
NOV 06-07, 2020
NOV 10-11, 2020
FEB 02-04, 2021
MAR 03, 2021
MAY 26-27, 2021
JUN 11-13, 2021
JUL 01-06, 2021
AUG 12-13, 2021
AUG 19-21, 2021
SEP 02-03, 2021
SEP 09-10, 2021
SEP 24-25, 2021
OCT 01-02, 2021
OCT 12-14, 2021
NOV 09, 2021
NOV 26-27, 2021
Kunstenfestivaldesarts | Brussels, BE
Spring Performing Arts Festival | Utrecht, NL
Münchner Kammerspiele | Munich, DE
Zürcher Theaterspektakel | Zurich, CH
International Summer Festival of Kampnagel | Hamburg, DE
Theater Festival Basel | Basel, DE
Festival d’Automne à Paris/Théâtre de la Bastille | Paris, FR
CAMPO Nieuwpoort | Gent, BE
Festival Internazionale del Teatro | Lugano, CH
Tanzquartier Wien | Vienna, AT
Spring In Autumn | Utrecht, NL
Frascati | Amsterdam, NL
Nona | Mechelen, BE
Spring Performing Arts Festival | Utrecht, NL
Printemps des Comédiens | Montpellier, FR
Kunstenfestivaldesarts | Brussels, BE
Veranos de la Villa Festival | Madrid, ES
Zürcher Theater Spektakel | Zurich, CH
Het Theater Festival | Antwerp, BE
Short Theatre Festival | Rome, IT
Sophiensaele | Berlin, DE
Festival Actoral | Marseille, FR
Frascati | Amsterdam, NL
Nona | Mechelen, BE
Akcent Festival - Archa | Prague, CZ
premiere, cancelled
cancelled
cancelled
cancelled
premiered
cancelled
cancelled
cancelled
cancelled
Hamartia Trilogy
Hamartia Trilogy
Hamartia Trilogy
tour (2020-2021)
Cuckoo (쿠쿠)
Theatre Performance | 60min | Premiered in 2017
© Radovan Dranga
© Eunkyung Jeong
© Radovan Dranga
© Radovan Dranga
about
A journey through the last 20 years of Korean history told by a bunch of talkative rice cookers. One day when his electric rice cooker informed him that his meal was ready, Jaha Koo experienced a deep sense of isolation. ‘Golibmuwon’ (고립무원) is an untranslatable Korean word expressing the feeling of helpless isolation that characterizes the lives of many young people in Korea today.
Twenty years ago there was a major economic crisis in South-Korea, comparable to the financial crash in the United States and Southern Europe in 2008. This crisis had a huge impact on the young generation to which South Korean artist Jaha Koo belongs. He witnessed many endemic problems including youth unemployment and socio-economic inequality. Rising suicide rates, isolation, acute social withdrawal and a fixation on personal appearance are but a few of the symptoms.
In bittersweet and humorous dialogues, Jaha and his clever rice cookers take you on a journey through the last 20 years of Korean history, combining personal experience with political events and reflections on happiness, economic crises and death.
credit
concept, text, direction, music, video, research: Jaha Koo
performance: Hana, Duri, Seri, Jaha Koo
cuckoo hacking: Idella Craddock
scenography, media operation: Eunkyung Jeong
dramaturgy: Dries Douibi
technical: Tom Daniels, Nele Verreyken, Korneel Coessens, Jan Berkmans, Bart Huybrechts
production coordination: Wim Clapdorp
production: Kunstenwerkplaats Pianofabriek (Brussels)
executive producer: CAMPO (Gent)
co-production: Bâtard Festival (Brussels)
residency: CAMPO (Gent), STUK (Leuven), BUDA (Kortrijk), Noorderzon/Grand Theatre (Groningen)
support: DAS Theater (Amsterdam), YAA (Amsterdam), SFAC (Seoul), Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie
tour (2017-2021)
OCT 05-06, 2017
OCT 14-15, 2017
FEB 23-24, 2018
FEB 28 - MAR 01, 2018
MAR 13-14, 2018
JUN 13, 2018
JUN 22-24, 2018
JUN 28, 2018
JUL 25, JUL 27, 2018
AUG 03-04, 2018
AUG 11-12, 2018
AUG 15-17, 2018
AUG 23-26, 2018
SEP 26-27, 2018
SEP 29-30, 2018
OCT 04-06, 2018
OCT 18, 2018
OCT 25, 2018
NOV 04-05, 2018
NOV 21-22, 2018
JAN 30, 2019
FEB 12, 2019
FEB 21, 2019
FEB 27-28, 2019
MAR 28-30, 2019
APR 10, 2019
MAY 22, 2019
MAY 30 - JUN 02, 2019
JUL 24-25, 2019
AUG 25, 2019
SEP 02-06, 2019
SEP 10-11, 2019
SEP 13-14, 2019
SEP 26, 2019
OCT 05, 2019
OCT 12-13, 2019
OCT 25-26, 2019
NOV 02, 2019
DEC 09-13, 2019
JAN 23-26, 2020
JAN 30-31, 2020
FEB 03-05, 2020
FEB 07-08, 2020
FEB 12-14, 2020
MAR 12, 2020
MAY 31 - JUN 02, 2020
OCT 26-27, 2020
DEC 01-03, 2020
MAR 17-19, 2021
JUN 11-13, 2021
JUL 01-06, 2021
OCT 01-02, 2021
NOV 02, 2021
DEC 01-02, 2021
DEC 07-08, 2021
Steirischer Herbst | Graz, AT
MMCA | Seoul, KR
Beursschouwburg | Brussels, BE
CAMPO Victoria | Gent, BE
Black Box Teater | Oslo, NO
Latitudes Contemporaines | Lille, FR
Athens & Epidaurus Festival | Athene, GR
Belluard Bollwerk International | Fribourg, CH
Impulstanz | Vienna, AT
TAZ | Ostend, BE
Taipei Arts Festival | Taipei, TW
International Summer Festival of Kampnagel | Hamburg, DE
Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival | Groningen, NL
Forum Freies Theater | Düsseldorf, DE
Prague Crossroads Festival | Prague, CZ
Conde Duque | Madrid, ES
Nona | Mechelen, BE
KAAP | Brugge, BE
Politik Im Freien Theater | Munich, DE
Frascati | Amsterdam, NL
Festival Parallèle | Marseille, FR
Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts | Brighton, UK
Arenbergschouwburg | Antwerp, BE
CAMPO Nieuwpoort | Gent, BE
Festival Cement | 's-Hertogenbosch, NL
Basler Dokumentartage 19/Kaserne | Basel, CH
Take Me Somewhere | Glasgow, UK
Festival TransAmériques | Montreal, CA
Centrale Fies | Dro, IT
Mladi Levi | Ljubljana, SI
La Bâtie | Geneva, CH
Short Theatre Festival | Rome, IT
Dublin Fringe Festival | Dublin, IE
Trafó House of Contemporary Arts | Budapest, HU
Festival Internazionale del Teatro | Lugano, CH
After Europe Festival/Sophiensale | Berlin, DE
Oz Asia Festival | Adelaide, AU
Spring In Autumn | Utrecht, NL
Festival d’Automne à Paris | Paris, FR
On The Boards | Seattle, US
Living Things Festival | Kelowna, CA
PuSH Festival | Vancouber, CA
Progress Festival | Toronto, CA
Usine C | Montreal, CA
CC Ter Vesten | Beveren, BE
Ruhrfestspiele | Recklinghausen, DE
Warwick Arts Centre | Coventry, UK
Théâtre de Nîmes | Nîmes, FR
Théâtre Point du Jour | Lyon, FR
Printemps des Comédiens | Montpellier, FR
Kunstenfestivaldesarts | Brussels, BE
Festival Actoral | Marseille, FR
Le Delta - Espace Culturel Provincial | Namur, BE
Théâtre de Nîmes | Nîmes, FR
Warwick Arts Centre | Coventry, UK
premiered
cancelled
cancelled
cancelled
cancelled
cancelled
Hamartia Trilogy
Hamartia Trilogy
Hamartia Trilogy
Lolling and Rolling (롤링 앤 롤링)
Theatre Performance | 40min | Premiered in 2015 | Reworked in 2021
© Bea Borgers
© Bea Borgers
© Bea Borgers
© Jaha Koo
about
The rework version was opened to the public in June, 2021.
In South Korea, there was a big controversy concerning children’s tongue surgery for better English pronunciation. The surgery is known as a lingual frenectomy. Some people thought that it is possible to have better English pronunciation through the surgery, especially for “R” which is not an existing consonant in the Korean language. Therefore some parents have forced their children to go through the tongue operation, even though the children had a normal tongue.
Lolling and Rolling penetrates Korean’s tragic social phenomenon related to English education. Theater maker Jaha Koo reveals the tragedy through a fictional story, video and sound work. It contextualizes not only contemporary issues but also historical events related to colonialism and imperialism.
credit
concept, text, direction, music, video, research, performance: Jaha Koo
dramaturgy: Dries Douibi
scenography, media operation: Eunkyung Jeong
artistic advisor: Pol Heyvaert
technical: Korneel Coessens, Jan Berkmans, Bart Huybrechts, Koen Goossens
production coordination: Wim Clapdorp
production: officeneinoffice (Amsterdam)
executive producer: CAMPO (Gent)
co-production: Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels)
original support: DAS Theater (Amsterdam)
tour (2015-2021)
AUG 13-15, 2015
DEC 04, 2015
DEC 09, 2015
JUL 29 - AUG 06, 2016
JAN 14, 2017
FEB 25, 2017
MAR 16-17, 2017
JUL 23, 2017
NOV 04, 2017
APR 22, 2018
NOV 01, 2018
JUN 11-13, 2021
JUN 18-19, 2021
JUL 01-06, 2021
OCT 01-02, 2021
OCT 05, 2021
Zürcher Theater Spektakel | Zurich, CH
Bâtard Festival/Beursschouwburg | Brussels, BE
Bâtard Festival/Veem House for Performance | Amsterdam, NL
TAZ | Ostend, BE
Frascati | Amsterdam, NL
Post-Peace/Württembergischer Kunstverein | Stuttgart, DE
Sick Festival | Manchester, UK
Post-Peace/Nest Ruimte Voor Kunst | Hague, NL
Spiel Art | Munich, DE
Kunsthal Extra City | Antwerp, BE
Veem House for Performance | Amsterdam, NL
Printemps des Comédiens | Montpellier, FR
Tanzquartier | Vienna, AT
Kunstenfestivaldesarts | Brussels, BE
Festival Actoral | Marseille, FR
Festival Internazionale del Teatro | Lugano, CH
premiered
Hamartia Trilogy
Hamartia Trilogy
Hamartia Trilogy
© Jaha Koo.