Jaha Koo

The History of Korean Western Theatre | February 1 - 3 

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.

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. Themes often contain a clash of Eastern and Western culture, from the cutting of tongue belts to succeed in the West, to the heavy personal toll of Western interference on a macroeconomic level.

Co-produced by Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), Münchner Kammerspiele, Frascati Productions (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 residencies Kunstencentrum BUDA (Kortrijk), wpZimmer (Antwerp), Decoratelier Jozef Wouters (Brussels) & Doosan Art Center (Seoul) with the support of Beursschouwburg, Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie & Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst.

  • 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, Jan Berckmans, Bart Huybrechts, Koen Goossens (& Jonas Castelijns)

  • Hardware Hacking | Idella Craddock research Eunkyung Jeong & Jaha Koo 

  • Research Assistance | Sang Ok Kim 

  • Interview | Jooyoung Koh, Kiran Kim & Kyungmi Lee 

  • Production | CAMPO 

Jaha Koo (He/him) is a South Korean theater/performance maker, music composer, and videographer. His artistic practice oscillates between multimedia and performance, all of which include his own music, video, text, and installation. His works are closely interwoven with politics and history, especially taking an interest in the political landscape and cultural identity of East Asia. He majored in theatre studies (BFA, 2012) in Seoul and settled down in Europe, studying independent theatre (MA, 2016) in Amsterdam.