Here There

여기 거기 / Yeogi Geogi

Catherine Ireton & Jinyeob Lee · Farnham Maltings · Seoul, 2018

About the project

A month-long artist residency in Seoul, Korea — a collaboration between Catherine Ireton and Jinyeob Lee (Elephant Laugh, site-specific theatremaker). The residency was rooted in growing cultural understanding between the UK and Korea, exploring the commonality and difference in the experiences of women.

The conversations that shaped the project ranged across pregnancy, motherhood, borders, lullabies, abortion laws, cooking, and the texture of daily life. The residency culminated in a presentation at Duri Theatre, Seoul.

A blog documenting the entire process — weekly dispatches from Seoul, field notes, and research — was published on Catherine's website during and after the residency.

Show synopsis

The show that grew from the residency is a story about a woman coming to terms with a secret she discovered after her mother's death. This secret has blown apart who she thought her mother was and thrown her own identity into question. In grief, and in search of answers, she starts making recipes from her mother's cookery book.

From the residency blog

"We had exploratory conversations spanning pregnancy, motherhood, cabbage, motorbikes, abortion laws, and sex festivals. We met in a cold November in London and I was immediately hooked on working with her."

"I have just under 4 weeks in this crazy amazing sprawling megatropolis of a city. How do you birth a new creative project when everything is unknown?"

A full blog documenting the residency — weekly dispatches from Seoul, field notes, and research — was published during and after the project.