Content Warning: This article contains mention of suicide and death.
“Please fall dead,” one flashing Cuckoo rice cooker ordered another, drawing hysterical laughter from the audience at Kogod Theatre.
Performer Jaha Koo weaved a humorous yet sobering reflection on the tumultuous past 20 years of South Korean political events, economic disaster and suicide in Cuckoo, a performance and Q&A hosted by The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on Thursday night.
Through a fusion of deafening electronic music, harsh, textured visuals and somber narration, the piece notably features two singing and swearing Cuckoo rice cookers, Duri and Seri, alongside a third, Hana, who is ridiculed for lacking a voice and only being able to cook rice.
Koo chose Cuckoo rice cookers as cast members after experiencing loneliness when his own Cuckoo — an iconic staple in South Korean households — sang to him that his rice was finished cooking.
During the Q&A panel following the event, he revealed he originally didn’t know the rice cookers would be so sassy, but they evolved into their hilarious, beeping selves during the piece’s development.
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He also discussed the conception and execution of the talking Cuckoos, which were modified to feature his own music and simulated voices by a Berlin-based white hat hardware hacker.
The interactions between the rice cookers provide moments of comic relief in the often heartbreaking show, which grapples with the increased suicide rates in the wake of South Korea’s experience during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Koo refers to this period as a time of “isolation without help,” when South Koreans had to fend for themselves in a struggling economy following the strict conditions of the International Monetary Fund’s bailout.
In one of the most harrowing moments of the show, Koo recounts his memories with a close friend, Jerry, who took his own life in 2011. Koo admits struggling with Jerry’s death after moving to the United States and receiving no answers about his passing.
In another arresting segment, Koo criticizes the former United States Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin as being responsible for South Korea’s hardship in the 1990s. A bass drum throbs and synths soar in a Rubin-themed song as Koo slowly lifts the lids of the singing Cuckoo rice cookers to reveal Rubin’s face. He eventually dons a Rubin mask himself while lighting two sparklers.
In the Q&A, Koo discussed his intentions with the piece and the audience he hoped to reach.
“Of course, I’m talking about South Korean issues,” Koo told The Diamondback. “But it’s not only about South Korean issues. I think it’s related to so many countries at the same time, I have to provoke the reality.”
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Koo recounted how his performance of Cuckoo in Athens was met by weeping audience members. He later learned that Greece, like South Korea, had faced similar International Monetary Fund bailouts.
Students at this university attended Cuckoo and were intrigued and inspired by Koo’s performance. “I hadn’t been to a show that was that personal,” said Noah Milholland, a sophomore mechanical engineering student. “There’s a lot of humor that I think was worked in really well, but it also carried a really important message.”
Sophomore aerospace engineering major Carlos Acosta was also impressed by the show.
“I liked the editing of it all, mixing with the musical components,” Acosta added. “He found ways that really would showcase certain emotions … It was great.”
Koo doesn’t think he can change the world as just one human being.
“But somehow, it’s my artistic responsibility,” Koo said. “I believe that there is still valid urgency to share this work.”
