• Performances
  • Performances with Talkbacks

Cuckoo

Showing on Feb 3–5

Playing at Waterfront Theatre

Cuckoo performance
Photo: ©Radovan Dranga

Jaha Koo (South Korea / Belgium)

Please note: The curtain time for the performance on Wednesday, February 5th was incorrectly published in our program guide. All performances are at 8PM.


Jaha Koo folds 20 years of South Korean history into this bittersweet narrative. An economic disaster and its ripple effects are conveyed in an onstage performance by the artist and some very special companions: a group of talking rice cookers. Re-programmed to speak, these devices serve as a token of Jaha’s alienation and a metaphor for the most absurd, most comical aspects of the recent past.

Cuckoo is an educational and philosophical treasure, with hilarious banter between rice cookers… It masterfully balances the personal and the worldwide, the human and the inanimate, creating a unique pressure-cooked theatrical feast.”

Montreal Theatre Hub

Cuckoo is a dialogue, a confessional, even a documentary of sorts. Jaha sits with his electronic friends, and together they discuss the catastrophic market crash of 1997 and subsequent national phenomena, including unemployment, depression and suicide among the youth. The subject matter is dark, but there’s rich comedy in the wry observations, the personal revelations and, of course, the basic concept itself. This is an account of deep malaise in which the storyteller(s!) demonstrate enough wit and creativity to suggest that there is, against the odds, hope for the future.

Cuckoo performance
Photo: ©Radovan Dranga
Cuckoo performance
Photo: ©Radovan Dranga
Cuckoo performance
Photo: ©Radovan Dranga

Explore similar shows

Artist Bio

Jaha Koo (South Korea / Belgium)

Jaha Koo is a South Korean composer and theatre artist. Working in the realm where disciplines overlap, he incorporates video, music, text and installation into his works of performance. Jaha Koo’s key achievements include the Hamartia Trilogy, of which Lolling and Rolling is a part, and the EP Copper and Oyster.

Venue

Waterfront Theatre

1412 Cartwright Street, Granville Island, Vancouver

Showtimes

February 3–5, 8PM

Post-Show Talkback: Feb 4
60 mins, no intermission.
In English and Korean

 

Tickets

Single tickets $39
Buy Tickets
Or call 604.449.6000

Eligible for PuSh Pass
Already have a pass?
Sign in before you book.

Book on PuSh Pass

Need a pass?
To book this show on a new pass, first add a pass to your cart, then add show seats.

Add a PuSh Pass
Learn more about PuSh Passes

Access

Icon signalling a performance with surtitles

English Surtitles for Korean Only

Icon signalling a deaf or hard of hearing friendly performance

Captions (All Sound & Text) on Feb 5

Icon signalling a performance with open captioning

Captions (All Sound & Text) on Feb 5

ASL Introduction

Credits

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 TECHNICAL Tom Daniels PRODUCTION Kunstenwerkplaats Pianofabriek EXECUTIVE PRODUCER CAMPO CO-PRODUCER Bâtard Festival

SUPPORTED BY CAMPO, STUK, BUDA, DAS, SFAC, Noorderzon/Grand Theatre REALIZED WITH THE SUPPORT OF de Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie

Partners