Women continue to fight for an official acknowledgement of atrocities committed and a formal apology from the Japanese government. This unending battle speaks to the inextinguishable fire of the human spirit within all of us.

 
In the past 20 years, over 1000 demonstrations have been held in protest of the sexual slavery of Korean women during the Japanese occupation. Based on testimonies of Korean comfort women, <FACE> is a theatrical experiment that gives voice to this suppressed history and makes for reclaimed memory.
 
Background

I read a book of testimonies of the surviving "Comfort Women" in 2000 and it completely shook me to my core. I had learned about Comfort Women through media, books and history lessons, but it had been stored in my head as a historical event. Reading the testimony of each survivor and what they went through put a human face on the issue for me. It was personal, visceral, and real. Inspired by their stories, I was compelled to make a theater piece about it. It was my way of responding to their experience. I wanted to recall and remember their experience and to explore the things that occur in the process of recalling and remembering one's experience. I wanted to remember them in an active way. Their survival and continuing fight to get official apologies from the Japanese government inspire all of us. Their story is an excellent example of resilient human spirit.
 

Press review

“...THE WRITING AND PERFORMANCE IS FLAWLESS AND ELEGANT... SHE CAPTURES THE TRANSITION BETWEEN AGES, TIME PERIODS, AND CHARACTERS WITH EFFORTLESS PRECISION"
-THE BRITISH THEATER GUIDE, UK-

“VISCERALLY INTENSE THEATRE EXPERIENCE, FEATURING AN EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE”
-THE EPOCH TIMES, NY-

“...CHANGE YOUR VIEW OF THE WORLD...SUPERB PERFORMANCE ..POWERFUL...A MUST-SEE SHOW AT THE FIRNGE.”
-THREEWEEKS, UK-

“Haerry Kim has created a moving and superbly performed account of the life of one particular woman...memorable ...elegant piece of theater..."
-THE FRINGE REVIEW-