Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Candidate
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
Current

Master of Philosophy
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
2020 – 2022
Thesis: Theatre-making in the Age of #MeToo: Working Cross-Culturally Toward a Framework for Safer Creative Spaces

Bachelor of Arts (Children’s English Literature)
The Cyber University of Korea
2011 – 2019

Associate Degree (Theatre)
Seoul Institute of the Arts
1994 – 1996

Training Highlights

2011
Participant in Viewpoints’ Training with SITI Company, New York

1992 – 1998
Pansori (traditional Korean singing) training under master Kim Jong-Yup and a National Living Treasure master Han Seung-Ho

1994 – 1996
Bongsan Talchum (Korean mask dance) training under “National Living Treasure” Kim Sun-Bong

1994 – 1995
Janggu (traditional Korean drum) training

Selected Projects

Sail Boat Home 내 집은 어디인가
Company Bad
Current
A multilingual music theatre for young audiences, funded by the Australia-Korea Foundation in 2024. Developed in collaboration with La Boite Theatre, WAAPA (WA), and AWESOME Festival (Perth), the project explores themes of identity, belonging, and cultural exchange through interactive storytelling and immersive performance.

I YOU WE
Company Bad
2024
A collaborative workshop series invited by the Korea Disability Arts & Culture Center Academy, designed to explore ensemble-based theatre-making and creative collaboration. The series connects local and international artists through creative dialogue, embodied practice, and shared methodologies, fostering new approaches to inclusive performance-making.

• Read more: “I YOU WE: Expanding Collaborative Theatre Practices”

Jiha Underground
Company Bad
2020 – 2022
A feature film project selected by the HWY Live program in 2020, receiving the RIDE Feature Film fund by Screen Queensland and SBS for script development over two years.

The Hello Project
Company Bad
2018 – 2021
An inclusive workshop and performance-making process by an ensemble of individuals with diverse experiences of disability. The project explores human connection across perceived barriers of language, culture, location, and ability through storytelling, imagery, sound, and immersive environments. Due to the pandemic, the project shifted online in 2020, resulting in an online art book. In 2021, exhibitions were held in Chuncheon and Seoul, South Korea.

The Stone Catcher Project
2018 – 2020
A transcultural, bilingual multidisciplinary performance funded by the Arts Council of Korea and Spelman College (USA). Created by Younghee Park and Aku Kadogo (Chair of the Theatre Department at Spelman College), this work blends poetic texts, pansori (traditional Korean music), Black soul music, dynamic choreography, and visual arts. The project addresses the question:
“In such a masculine world, is it possible to exist and coexist as women against various forms of physical and mental discrimination and prejudice?”

• 2018 – Creative Development
• 2020 – Digital Choreopoem Stone Catcher

Drifters
Gimcheon Youth Detention Center
2016
As the Artistic Director of the Culture and Arts Rehabilitation Program for Korea’s only juvenile detention center, I led the development of Drifters, an original musical based on the stories of incarcerated youth. The project was the result of a year-long program of theatre, dance, music, and traditional martial arts workshops. The premiere was attended by inmates’ families, the justice department, and the federal Minister of Justice. It has since been used as a model for creative interventions in the corrections system.

• 2016 – Presentation at Gimcheon Youth Detention Center
• Press:
  • Son, J. (2016, Nov. 30) Interview: Boys don’t cry. Hanguerae Newspaper
  • Kim, D. (2016, Nov. 23) For all the boys in the world. Gimcheon City News

The Mystery of Laboratory B-123
JamBox Theatre
2018 – 2019
An original children’s bilingual work inspired by the 2014 Sewol Ferry disaster in Korea. I co-written and directed this work, premiered in 2017 at the Children’s Theater in Seoul, it has been re-performed annually and was officially invited to the Assitej Korea Winter Festival. In 2019, it received awards for Best Actress and Best Popular Children’s Show of the Year at the Seoul Children’s Theatre Awards.

Voice
2014 – 2015
A solo music drama for teenagers, written, directed, and performed by meself. Inspired by the real story of Yukwoodang, a teenage gay activist and poet, Voice premiered at the National Theatre Company of Korea in 2014 and was later invited to the 2015 Korean Human Rights Theatre Festival.

• 2015 – Korea Human Rights Play Festival
• 2014 – National Theatre Company of Korea, Small Theatre Festival
• Press:
  • Son, J. (2015, Sep. 23) “[Interview] Is God a man or a woman?” Hanguerae Newspaper

The Dokboki Box
Offset Art
2014
A collaboration between Australian and Korean artists, serving live music and performance inside a street-side snack stall from Seoul. The piece raises questions and redefines rules as it reveals a story about survival.

• 2014 – Season at Federation Square, Melbourne, for Next Wave Festival
• 2014 – Premiere Season at Metro Arts, Brisbane

Related Theatre Work

Generator (Associate Director)
WAAPA 2nd year BPA Production
2024

Orlando (Director)
WAAPA 3rd year BPA Production
2023

Remember Jiha Underground
Company Bad (Metro Arts)
2020

Choral (Co-writer and Collaborator)
Debase Productions and Company Bad
2018 – 2019

Migration and Labour (Performer)
Bupyeong Cultural Arts Foundation
2019

The Magic Room (Co-director)
Happy Lounge
2019

The Nightingale (Writer and Director)
JamBox Theatre
2019

Small Wonder (Collaborator and Performer)

Midsummer Night’s Dream (Performer – Puck)
Directed by Yun Gwang-Jin (2016)

Shimchong: Daughter Overboard! (Performer, Translator, Cultural Consultant, Collaborator)
Motherboard Productions (2014 – 2016)
A multilingual performance blending live spectacle, puppetry, and a working fairground dunking machine. Directed by Jeremy Neideck, with original music by Neideck and Tom Dickins.

2016 – Premiere at World Theatre Festival & APAM, Brisbane Powerhouse
2015 – Creative Development at Brisbane Powerhouse
2014 – Creative Development at HotHouse Theatre’s A Month in the Country

Fun Run (Collaborator & Performer)
All The Queen’s Men – Ansan Street Arts Festival
A large-scale participatory performance directed by Tristan Meecham, created in response to the deep sorrow and trauma of the Ansan community following the 2014 Sewol Ferry tragedy. As a cultural consultant, I helped shape the project to reflect the political and social landscape of Kore

Five Fools (Director)
Beijing Drum Tower Theatre (2015)

Story Zoo (Co-creator & Performer)
JamBox Theatre, Korea (2015)

Deluge (Lead Performer & Collaborator)
Motherboard Productions (2011 – 2015)
A contemporary physical performance exploring the 2011 Queensland floods, the Australian landscape in Judith Wright’s poetry, and the collective trauma of the Sewol Ferry disaster.

2015 – Deluge: 물의 기억 presented by invitation of the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, Namsan Drama Center, Seoul
2014 – South Korean Tour: Osan Cultural Arts Center, Art Space_Mullae
2014 – South Korean Premiere at Seoul International Dance Festival (SiDance)
2014 – World Premiere at Brisbane Powerhouse for Brisbane Festival
2012 – Studio Presentation at The Loft, QUT Creative Industries Precinct
2011 – Studio Presentation at Metro Arts
Fairy Tale Box (Performer)
JamBox Theatre (2014)

Underground (Lead Performer)
Motherboard Productions (2011 – 2015)
A transcultural, bilingual musical that premiered in Brisbane and toured to Seoul.

2020 – In Concert return season for Metro Arts With Love 40th Anniversary Festival
2014 – South Korean Premiere at Baesurak Studio, Seoul City Hall, HiSeoul Festival
2014 – Return season at Brisbane Powerhouse for Australian Performing Arts Market
2012 – Return season in a custom-built venue for Brisbane Festival
2011 – World Premiere at Metro Arts Basement as part of the Independents Program
Caterpillars Can Fly (Performer)
Stretch MK1 (2009)

LATT Children’s Theatre, Korea (Performer) (2005 – 2011)
Performed in seven productions, including The Little Dragon, Twelve Animals, Five Fools, and Shadow Thief. Shadow Thief was invited to the 2006 Brisbane Out of the Box Children’s Festival.

Mokwha Repertory Company, Korea (Performer) (1996 – 2003)
Performed in over 15 productions, touring nationally and internationally. Highlights include:

Love and the Fox (1996)
Moonlight over the Baekma River (1997)
Prisoner of a Thousand Years (1998)
Choon Pung’s Wife (2000)
Romeo and Juliet (2001) – Bremen Shakespeare Festival, Germany
My Love DMZ (2002)

Industry Panels & Round Tables

2019 – Korea Women’s Development Institute Symposium – Panel: After #MeToo: Changes and Issues in the Prevention of Sexual Harassment in the Cultural Arts Field
2019 – Marginal Theatre Festival & Feminism Theatre Festival Symposium – Guest co-speaker: Building Utopia in Theatre
2019 – Proclamation Ceremony for the Practice of Gender Equality in Content Fields – Guest Speaker, Korea Creative Content Agency
2019 – International Workshop: Chicago Theatre Standard with Laura T. Fisher – Host & Speaker, Theatre Artists Against Sexual Violence, Seoul Acceleration Center for Gender Equity
2018 – International Forum: New Power Created by the Power of Solidarity – Host & Speaker, Theatre Artists Against Sexual Violence, Seoul Acceleration Center for Gender Equity

Arts Policy Consulting