Iron Eyes is the first creative collaboration of Jang Huddle, an immersive physical theatre work exploring Korean tensions, particularly relating to the divide between North and South Korea.

Jang Huddle’s work is ambitious. Iron Eyes is packed with non-stop ideas and scenes from the moment of entering The Basement until leaving again. The stairway into Basement’s studio features posters of what I guess (please bear with me, I am not Korean) are Korean cultural codes, at the door we are given name stickers with a new Hangul name; inside, four groups rotate around interactive performer displays, and as an audience we are displaced and relocated every couple of minutes.

The performers are committed, unified, and obviously passionate about the work.  They are dressed in traditionally inspired white linen costumes (beautifully designed by Nora Zhong).

Each idea presented is saying something, but I’m not exactly sure what. Ideas are flicked through faster than I can process them, like a viewfinder switching just before you see the whole picture. When I reflect on the work, each idea has promising potential, but it seems Jang Huddle do not yet have the experience to refine, develop, and edit their great ideas to a cohesive whole. Political tensions between North and South Korea, and the effect the North/South divide has had on Koreans is a mammoth topic to approach in one, hour-long work (understatement of the year). Added to this is the telling of Cindy Jang’s own family history, her grandmother fleeing North Korea as a child and the relationship of this to her life in New Zealand today. In trying to include everything, the voices of the performers become muddy and confused. Interesting ideas are dropped and never seem to resurface.

There are poignant moments of feeling throughout the work: a performer asks audience members to break eggs into a bowl, but gasps in pain and fear each time the egg is about to break causing the audience to recoil in hesitation; a solemn military march suddenly becomes an overstimulating KPop showcase that breaks back down to a march again; the audience is made to stand and face the back wall, the performers are armed officers behind us; we are asked to split ourselves according to false dichotomies- “are you male or female? Are you a leader or follower? Alcoholic or insomniac?”

The work is made up of distinctively Korean voices and the use of Korean language, Korean-inspired soundscapes and costuming are present. This is a refreshing breath of difference.

The mental, and often physical, work required of me as an audience member to grasp and connect each new idea ultimately leaves me feeling confused and a little stressed.

I look forward to seeing how Jang Huddle matures as a collective in future works, bringing a much needed New Zealand Korean perspective to our stage.

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