Studio Nanadashii is a devising theater group based in Seoul, Korea. We explore a journey of life in search of the “real me” that exists between the “me I think of” (na, meaning ‘me’ in Korean) and the “me that emerges through creation” (na dashi, meaning ‘me again’ in Korean).

Led by director Yena Kim, who trained in Erzählkunst (meaning ‘Art of storytelling’ in German) in Germany, Studio Nanadashii has developed our own “Iyagi-Kunst” method (Iyagikkun, meaning ‘storyteller’ in Korean + Kunst, meaning ‘art’ in German), through which we extensively explore the performative layers of storytelling.

We have broadened our audience through stage adaptations of classical literature, road theater, theater for young audiences, and barrier-free performances.

Our family play, The Umbrella Thief, gained recognition at the 2020 Seoul ASSITEJ Children's Theater Awards, winning a triple crown with the Grand Prize, Directing Award, and Audience Award.

Studio Nanadashii’s Own Method: "Iyagi-Kunst"

Inspired by the stories we heard on our grandmother’s knee,
We strive for performances that spark the audience's polysensory imagination,
focusing on “the act of storytelling” with minimal visuals and stage setup.

Enriching Stories with “Expressive Movement”

To deliver rich and engaging storytelling performances,
we try to integrate creative, dynamic physical expression and a well-honed ensemble.

“Devising Theatre” : Collaborative Creation from The Ground Up

Our entire creative team participates in all aspects of the devising process,
from research to scene creation,
fostering a unique collaborative theater experience.

Theater for Children and Adults to Enjoy “Together”

We aim to create performances that all family members can enjoy, when creating theater for young audiences.
We strive to minimize adult biases and clichés so that everyone can enjoy the experience.
and we also believe that even if every text can't be fully understood, we can meet each other during the performance.

“Participatory Performances” : Welcoming Audience Engagement

We avoid one-sided message delivery and strive for audience participation that enables everyone to feel and experience the performance together.

Works

Family Theatre / Theatre for young audience

Adapted from the story "The Umbrella Thief" by Sri Lankan author Sybil Wettasinghe, this work tells the tale of Kirimama, who lives in a village without umbrellas and goes to the city to buy an umbrella. As Kirimama repeatedly loses her/his umbrella, (s)he undergoes changes, leading her/him to question what is truly important not to lose. With animative movements, mime, and playful wordplay, this warm story feels like watching a cartoon.

[Key Milestones]
  • 2024 Seoul Arts Center / Invitation to the Children's Family Festival
  • 2023 ACC Culture Center / ACC Children's Performance Repertoire
  • 2020 ASSITEJ Winter Festival - Winner of the Grand Prize, Directing Award, and Audience Award at the Seoul Children's Theatre Awards
  • 2020 ASSITEJ International Summer Festival
  • 2019 ACC Children's Theatre / Children's Theatre Festival for Disabled Children

This performance adds imagination to the relationships between the boy, the old man, and the marlin from Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. It is a performance for all ages, from children to seniors, depicting the fantastical tale of a rough sea adventure through storytelling, objects, music, and movement.

[Key Milestones]
  • 2025 NC Cultural Foundation NC Hall / ASSITEJ Winter Festival
  • 2023 Hwacheon Art Tutbat Theater
  • 2023 Byeolbyeol Theater / Growing Together Theatre Project

This performance, developed as part of the National Theatre Company's Theatre for Early Years creative research workshop, is designed for infants aged 36 months and under. It begins with the question: If we were to condense the Earth’s 4.6 billion-year history into one year, what would spring, summer, autumn, and winter look like? Over the course of 30 minutes, the performance revisits the history of the Earth. What can babies tell us about the mysteries of the universe? Welcoming newly born infants, as well as adults who are equally newly born in the context of the Earth's history, this performance aims to create an intellectual playground for babies and their families.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2022 National Theatre Company of Korea, Small Theatre Pan / Theatre for Early Years - Performance Showcase

A creative performance based on the folktale "The Story Pouch," the legend of Seolmundae Halmang(Grandmother), and story about Haenyeo (Korean female diver). This storytelling theatre is enjoyed with live performances featuring Korean traditional instruments such as the korean drum, Janggu(A drum with an hourglass shape, played with two sticks), Jing( (a large brass gong)), and Gayageum(Zither with 12 strings), making it a delightful experience for families.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2022 Seoul Arts Center, National Gugak Center / Saturday National Music (Gukak)

Actors and audience members become Sinbad, shouting this magical phrase “Beshaw!” as they enjoy the adventure together. The story unfolds through exciting adventures, culminating in the tale of the birth of the Arabian Nights.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2015 Arko Arts Theatre / ASSITEJ Summer Festival
  • 2022 "Camptorytelling Beshaw Sinbad," Yangcheon Park Book Rest Area / Yangcheon-gu Autumn Cultural Festival

This Theater film tells the story of Shakespeare's Hamlet for children using diverse objects as storytelling tools, presented in the format of a web drama with four episodes. It was filmed at the Jongno Children's Theatre and its surroundings, which were locked down during the pandemic.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2021: Jongno Cultural Foundation Art Education Online Theatre

From the adventures and myths of the wizard Odin to Hans Christian Andersen's lesser-known fairy tales and stories passed down from the Celts, this storytelling journey takes audiences to the Northern Hemisphere with the storytellers.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2020 Byeolbyeol Theatre
  • 2020 Chungju Gwana-dong Fairy Tale Hall
  • 2016 Gwacheon Citizens’ Hall / 10th Seoul Creation Space Theatre Festival

It's about the hearts of the Indians, despite losing their land to white settlers, choose to call them "brothers who refuse to be our brothers" instead of "enemies." The performance delves into the lives of those who still share their stories of their origin with future generations.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2018 ASSITEJ Summer Festival
  • 2015 Seoul Citizens’ Hall Basrak Hall
  • 2015 Sowol Art Hall

Storytelling Theatre

Set in a modern small studio apartment, this performance unfolds the tales of love, war, and adventure as six celestial beings descend from the white jade palace of heaven to the human world. A witty adaptation of the late Joseon Dynasty novel "Okrumong", it features six actors who use their bodies and diverse everyday objects to portray over dozens of characters, bringing the story to life.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2023 Mia-ri Gogae Arts Theatre / 2023 Seoul Future Theatre Festival
  • 2022 Sanwoolim Theatre / 2022 Sanwoolim Classic Theatre

This one-person show transforms any space with a mic into a stage. Actors step outside the theater to connect with the audience, presenting a storytelling theater experience with a drink after work. Taking place in bars and alternative spaces located in bustling areas, each week features a different two storytellers sharing two stories.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2023: Dionysus Lounge

This immersive lecture performance shares the process of exploring "the poverty of artists" with the audience. Using the Russian novel, poetry, and essays of the same name as source texts, it artistically explores a philosophical discourse on poverty using documentary materials. Through games and discussions with the audience, it encourages reflections on the concept and definitions of poverty, the criteria for wealth in contemporary society.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2019 Namsan Arts Center / Searchlight

This work is an adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's lifelong writing, Faust. The term "Goetheustpheles" combines the names Goethe, Faust, and Mephistopheles, and the character of Goethe also appears in the performance. Centered around the line, Humans keep wandering as long as they strive.” It depicts Faust's determination to rise gain despite the failures and frustrations encountered in life.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2017 Daehak-ro Hyehwadang Theater

This performance is adapted from The Vagina Monologues, interviews conducted by playwright, poet, and social activist Eve Ensler with 200 women. It addresses themes of “freedom” and “oppression” through discussions about women's bodies.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2017 Heesumjeong / Seoul Creation Space Theater Festival

Adapted and translated by director Yena Gim, this work examines the questions: “What attitude do we need while living in poverty, pain, numerous contradictions, and ironic lives?” and “Are sacrifices and understanding greed?” It features the use of Bertolt Brecht's poetry as dialogue. The physicality, sounds, and movements of the characters in this performance create a distinctive and special atmosphere.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2017 Arko Grand Theater
  • 2016 Daehak-ro Arts Theater Studio Haneul / Showcase

Based on the adventures of Baron Munchausen, this work explores the theme of "Munchausen syndrome. It shows how much people can waver with lies and truths, encouraging audience to think about what the real truth is through the concept of 'bluffing.'"

[Key Milestone]
  • 2016 Culture Station Seoul 284

An immersive storytelling performance inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle's "A Study in Scarlet." The audience gathers in a whiskey bar to hear tales of a murder case. Through the narratives told by four storytellers, they experience the first meeting of Holmes and Watson and search for clues at the crime scene filled with mysteries.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2016 Sangsu Station Rabbit Hole / 11th Seoul Creation Space Theater Festival

A discussion theater piece inspired by the Mafia game. What does it mean to be a citizen in modern society? Through given keywords, scenes are created through improvisation with audience participation, discussing mafia-like behaviors and civic consciousness that occur in social and everyday life.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2015 Dongsoong Stage / 4th One-Act Play Festival Planning Meeting
  • 2014 Book Café Mongdang / 8th Seoul Creation Space Theatre Festival

Knots have existed since before the word. Knots that serve practical purposes while also embodying abstract meanings and mythical beliefs. This performance, inspired by the book ‘Ashley-Buch der Knoten (1944)’, which introduces over 2,000 types of knots, explores the various meanings and symbols of knots with dance and play. Diverse participants, including high school graduate, a history teacher, an art student, a physical therapy major, a German literature major, a working holiday traveler, and both Koreans and Germans, feature in the performance.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2011 Michael Chekhov Theater, Berlin / Theater Forum Kreuzberg

Theatre

The story follows Song Yoon-kyung, a woman who experienced three miscarriages and confirmed her existence through a daughter born from her husband and another woman. She boards the Trans-Siberian train to see Lake Baikal, a place her husband frequently visited. The stories of the characters, who cannot communicate with each other in this foreign land, are told through brief dialogues and long monologues. This performance encourages the audience to consider the symbolism of Matryoshka.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2018 Arko Arts Theater, Small Theater / Invited to 'Peach Blossom Festival'

An elderly man lives alone and his mother (a ghost) lives beneath the squat toilet, only seeing her son's anus. One day, the elderly man’s son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter come to visit after a long time. Here’s the translation of your sentence into English: This performance lead audience to consider what kind of family-spirit is needed in this super-aged society and what the essence of relationships is.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2015 Arko Arts Theate / Spring Literary Contest Short Play Festival

While waiting for Godot, who may never come, five minutes, a day, or even thirty years might pass. This adaptation of Samuel Beckett's ‘Waiting for Godot’ shifts focus from the lonely pain of waiting for Godot to noticing the person beside you. During meaningless exchanges, who is it that hugs me and drapes their coat over me?

[Key Milestone]
  • 2014 Art Space Hyehwa /the Seoul Theater Festival 'Future, Rise Up'
  • 2013 Picasso Theater, Yeoju Ogok Nar Festival

Road Theatre

This two-person road theatre explores the theme of 'Future Walk (Into the Future)'. Adapting parts of Ryu Si-hwa's emblem book 'Fables of Life', the audience enjoys the performance while strolling around house number 17 and writing poetry together.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2021 Daejeon Soje-dong
  • 2020 Daejeon Soje-dong

Actors and staff confess about the "monster" within themselves in various spots around the theater lobby. This work invites the audience to reflect on the monsters that reside within them.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2015 Seongsu Art Hall / Free participation in the Emerging Directors Festival

Using stairs, elevators, and terraces of the space, the audience engages their five senses, experiencing splashes of water, scents, and tastes on a journey into the Arabian Nights.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2014 Daehakro Arts Theater / Marronnier Summer Festival
  • 2013 Daehakro Arts Theater / Marronnier Summer Festival

This road theatre version of "Are You Waiting for Godot?" takes the audience on the subway to search for Godot with the actors. Actors and audiences share the experience of waiting for the signal to change, the subway to arrive during the journey from Gwanghwamun Station to Han River Park.

[Key Milestone]
  • 2013 7th Seoul Creative Space Theater Festival

Director

Yena Gim


Love your Story,
Love your Moment,
Love your Life

Yena Gim founded Studio Nanadashii after completing a Master’s degree in Applied Theatre at the Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK, University of the Arts Berlin) and has been active as a director. She also works as a storyteller, webtoon creator, and actor.

Captivated by devising theater and Erzählkunst (the art of storytelling), she has consistently explored and practiced these fields for over a decade, developing a unique methodology for Studio Nanadashii.

She has taught and conducted numerous workshops not only at universities in Korea but also in the Philippines and Germany.

She serves as the chair of the ITI New Artists' Committee, the chair of the ASSITEJ Next Generation Committee, is a member of the Mehrsprachige Erzählgruppe (International Storytelling Group), and is affiliated with the Guest Management of the Berlin International Film Festival.

Collaborating Artists

  • Actor Hyoin Dante Kim
  • Actor Deokgyu Shin
  • Actor Younghee Jeon
  • Actor Harim Kim
  • Actor Doyul Kim
  • Actor Taehee Won
  • Actor Jiyoung Oh
  • Actor Jieun Jeong
  • Actor Seungeun Choi
  • Lighting Designer Jeongeun Son
  • Conductor Noe Gonzalez
  • Conductor Sanghyeon Kang
  • Choreographer Woojung Kim
  • Choreographer Jubin Kim
  • Choreographer Eunji Seon
  • Film Director Jude Chun
  • Photographer Hyungjun Kim
  • Costume Designer EK
  • Objet Designer Sohyun Kim
  • Stage Manager Sungchul Kim
  • Stage Manager Noeul Kang

Performance Chronology

Family Theatre / Theatre for Young Audiences

<The Umbrella Thief>

  • 2018: ACC Children’s Theatre, National Asia Culture Center / Showcase of the Participatory Children's Performance Creation Support Project
  • 2018: ACC Children’s Theatre @ Jongno Children’s Theater / Tryout Performance
  • 2019: Namsan Gugak Center / K.PAP
  • 2019: ACC Children’s Theatre / Children’s Theatre Festival for Disabled Children, Bangbanggokgok Munhwa Gonggam
  • 2020: ASSITEJ International Summer Festival
  • 2020: World & Three Theatre Festival
  • 2020: ASSITEJ Winter Festival - Winner of the Grand Prize, Directing Award, and Audience Award at the Seoul Children's Theatre Awards
  • 2020: Gimcheon Family International Theatre Festival
  • 2020: Miryang Performing Arts Festival
  • 2021: Playing Yeonsu, Seoul Arts Center / The Children’s Family Festival
  • 2022: Cheonan Children’s Dream Center
  • 2022: Incheon Cultural Arts Center
  • 2022: Ulsan Jung-gu Cultural Center
  • 2023: ACC Culture Center / ACC Children’s Performance Repertoire
  • 2024: Seoul Arts Center / The Children’s Family Festival

<The Old Man and the Sea, and the Boy>

  • 2023: Byeolbyeol Theater / Growing Together Theatre Project
  • 2023: Art Tutbat Theater
  • 2025: ASSITEJ Winter Festival

<Earth: Ahjang-Garde> - Theatre for Early Years

  • 2022: National Theatre Company of Korea / Theatre for Early Years Showcase

<WangWang JakJak Story Pouch>

  • 2022: Seoul Arts Center National Gugak Center / Saturday National Music (Gukak) Fairy Tale

<Be-shaw! Be-shaw!! Sindbad!>

  • 2015: Arko Arts Theater / ASSITEJ Summer Festival
  • 2022: "Camptorytelling Beshaw Sinbad" Yangcheon Park Book Rest Area / Yangcheon-gu Autumn Cultural Festival

<Let’s Play Hamlet>

  • 2021: Jongno Cultural Foundation Art Education Online Theatre

<Painted by Moonlight, A Journey by Ear>

  • 2016: Gwacheon Citizens’ Hall / 10th Seoul Creation Space Theatre Festival
  • 2020: Chungju Gwana-dong Fairy Tale Hall
  • 2020: Byeolbyeol Theater

<Redman Taloa>

  • 2015: Seoul Citizens’ Hall Basrak Hall
  • 2015: Sowol Art Hall
  • 2015: Ilsan Uri Small Theater
  • 2015: Gwacheon Citizens’ Hall
  • 2018: Pohang International Theatre Arts Festival
  • 2018: ASSITEJ Summer Festival

Storytelling theatre

<HoHoTangTang Okrumong>

  • 2022: Sanwoolim Theater / Sanwoolim Classical Theatre Festival 2022
  • 2023: Mia-ri Gogae Arts Theater / 2023 Seoul Future Theatre Festival 2023

<Stand-up Theatre>

  • 2023 Dionysus Lounge
  • 2023 Alternative cultural space Jakdang Moeui

<Us, Poor People>

  • 2019: Namsan Arts Center / Searchlight

<Goetheustpheles>

  • 2017: Daehak-ro Hyehwa-dang Theater

<Vagina before sleeping>

  • 2017: Heesumjeong / Seoul Creation Space Theatre Festival

<The Kind Murderer of Sezuan>

  • 2016: Daehak-ro Arts Theater Studio Haneul(Sky) / Showcase
  • 2017: Arko Grand Theater

<The Ballroom of Münchhausen>

  • 2016: Cultural Station Seoul 284
  • 2017: Cecil Theater / 2nd Youth Performing Arts Festival - won a Male Actor Award

<ChuriChuri BamBam - Mystery, Mystery, Night, Night>

  • 2016: Sangsu Station Rabbit Hole / 11th Seoul Creation Space Theatre Festival

<Mafia in the City - Are You a Citizen?>

  • 2014: Book Café Mongdang / 8th Seoul Creation Space Theatre Festival
  • 2015: Dongsoong Stage / 4th One-Act Play Festival Planning Meeting

<매듭(Knoten)>

  • 2011: Michael Chekhov Studio Berlin / Theater Forum Kreuzberg

Theatre

<Matryoshka>

  • 2018: Arko Arts Theater / New Spring Contest One-Act Play Festival

<Red Tissue or Blue Tissue?>

  • 2015: Arko Arts Theater / New Spring Contest One-Act Play Festival

<Are You Waiting for Godot now?>

  • 2013: Picasso Theater / Yeoju Okgongnaru Festival
  • 2014: Artistic Space Hyehwa / Seoul Theatre Festival "Future, Rise!"

Road Theatre

<Your Village>

  • 2020: Daejeon Soje-dong
  • 2021: Daejeon Soje-dong

<Mimic of a Monster>

  • 2015: Seongsu Art Hall / Emerging Directors' Festival

<Storytelling Party: the Tales of One Thousand and One Nights>

  • 2013: Daehak-ro Arts Theater / Marronnier Summer Festival
  • 2014: Daehak-ro Arts Theater / Marronnier Summer Festival

<Waiting for Godot>

  • 2013: Gwanghwamun Station-Han River Park / e 7th Seoul Creation Space Theatre Festival

Dance Theatre

<Good Person>

  • 2016: Cultural Station Seoul 284
  • 2017: SAC Dance Center

<Roaming>

  • 2017: Duri Dance Space