Trailer: CUCKOO - JAHA KOO

Theatre-Lecture Performance / 60min / Korean with English subtitles

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, direction, text, music, video: Jaha Koo

Performance: Hana, Duri, Seri & Jaha Koo

Cuckoo hacking: Idella Craddock

Scenography, media operation: Eunkyung Jeong

Dramaturgical advice: Dries Douibi

Production: Kunstenwerkplaats Pianofabriek

Coproduction: Bâtard Festival

Support: CAMPO, STUK, BUDA, DAS, SFAC & Noorderzon / Grand Theatre Groningen

Funded by Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie

Any duplication or use of objects such as images, diagrams, sound, music and texts is not permitted without Jaha Koo's agreement.