ASTANA — Theaters often carry history across generations, and for Koreans living in Kazakhstan, that story has been living onstage since the 2022 premiere of “Life – History of Unity.” As the production tours the country this year for the 30th anniversary of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan (APK), its creators spoke to The Astana Times about what its acts reveal and why they still matter.
The scene from “Life – History of Unity”. Photo credit: Republican State Academic Korean Theater
The production by the State Academic Korean Musical Comedy Theater has been performed for several years and remains one of its most resonant works. It traces the major milestones of the Korean community in Kazakhstan, blending theater, dance and music.
“The main message is that history itself is embodied in the character of the Girl-History. She develops very dynamically, and the fate of the entire people is shown through this character. There is also the character Mother-Earth, specifically the Kazakh land, which welcomes the Girl-History with warm embraces,” theater’s production director Ekaterina Pen told The Astana Times.
Ekaterina Pen, Korean theater’s production director. Photo credit: koreantheatre.kz
Traditionally staged to commemorate key national dates, this year’s performance marked the 30th anniversary of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan. The theater is now approaching its 94th year.
“For the younger generation, this production is especially important because it carries history, a history that must be known and remembered, since we often think too little about our own origins,” said Pen.
She noted that the production weaves in archival documents, including deportation papers, faded photographs, and the names of labor heroes who cultivated the land after resettlement. These elements reference the community’s defining chapter: the 1937 forced relocation of nearly 172,000 Koreans from the Russian Far East to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It was a journey marked by loss but followed by rebuilding, agricultural accomplishment and enduring ties with the Kazakh people.
“For the older generation, watching this can be difficult because they relive painful memories. But the most important part is the ending. It brings us to today, when we live in a thriving country and feel that roads are open before us. With gratitude for everything our ancestors endured, we can move forward and look to the future,” said Pen.
The choreographic thread binding past and present
The role of the Girl-History is performed by Anna Tsoy, who also serves as the theater’s chief ballet master and choreographer. She described the character as the thread that ties the production together.
Anna Tsoy, Korean theater’s chief ballet master and choreographer. Photo credit: koreantheatre.kz
“She speaks of eras, the change of time, the different stages of life of the Koreans who were resettled to Kazakhstan, the pains she experiences together with the people, the joys, and the acceptance of such a fate. Her role is not to determine events but to transmit historical milestones through the body and visual imagery. She is the link,” Tsoy told The Astana Times.
The production’s most symbolic choreographic gesture mirrors the turning of a page.
“The main plastic gesture that connected everything was the movement of the hand along the horizon, where the changing LED visuals showed different historical milestones. She has compassion and an understanding of all the tragedy, yet she cannot change anything, because she is life itself,” said Tsoy.
One of the central scenes centers on “Arirang,” the Korean folk song often described as an unofficial national anthem. The scene evokes the conviction of earlier generations, who held on to their identity through exile and hardship, believing that their descendants would one day give the song renewed life and meaning.
“In that scene, we show the past and present with hope for the future. We used the Korean fan symbol. It is like a chronicle, a book, and all the memories and heritage left by our ancestors. The scene is split between performers in simple hanbok [traditional clothing] and vocalists representing the younger generation. Standing opposite each other, they look through the prism of time, the fan, and the Girl-History’s choreography,” said Tsoy.
She emphasized the gratitude toward the Kazakh people woven into the production.
“We could not avoid showing the support of the Kazakh people. We needed a home, human warmth, friendship, humanity, and all this was given to us, symbolized through the figure of the grandmother who offers her small yurt, her hearth,” she said.
As a fourth-generation Korean Kazakh, Tsoy said her homeland is Kazakhstan. “Two cultures, Korean and Kazakh, intertwine within us, and this gives us a new level of historical understanding and national identity,” she added.
Why the story still resonates
For Tsoy, the production remains relevant because a clear understanding of the past is inseparable from a sense of who we are.
The scene is split between performers in simple hanbok (traditional clothing) and vocalists representing the younger generation. Photo credit: koreantheatre.kz
“We always return to our roots, authenticity and identity. We must remember who we are and what price our ancestors paid so that we have this life, so the Korean people could not only stand on their feet but also contribute to Kazakhstan’s cultural development,” she said.
She noted that while older generations still carry the emotional weight of resettlement, younger Koreans in Kazakhstan, now the fifth generation, often experience it as something distant.
“Our generation still has a connection with our great-grandparents. We heard their stories, how much hardship they endured, how they had to stay silent, adapt, change names, work harder than others, invest in this land and be grateful,” said Tsoy.
“Such productions remain relevant because they highlight our connection to the past and allow the next generation not to forget how much has been lived through, the good, the difficult, the sacrifice, the patience, and that everything our ancestors sowed was not in vain,” she said.
A theater built across borders and generations
The Korean theater has one of the most storied histories in Kazakhstan’s cultural landscape.
Founded in 1932 in Vladivostok as the Far Eastern Regional Korean Theater, it preserved Korean culture during Japan’s occupation of Korea. After the 1937 deportation of Koreans to Central Asia, the troupe split between Kyzylorda and Tashkent before reuniting in 1950. In 1968, the theater settled permanently in Almaty, eventually becoming the State Academic Korean Musical Comedy Theater.
Over the past nine decades, the theater has staged more than 270 productions for an audience that now exceeds six million people. Its repertoire spans Korean drama, Kazakh works, and global works, performed in Korean with simultaneous translation.
