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Edinburgh International Festival: Haribo Kimchi

Edinburgh International Festival: Haribo Kimchi

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About This Event

The Edinburgh International Festival presents *Haribo Kimchi*, a new theatrical work by Jaha Koo that transforms the Studio Theatre into a pojangmacha, the late-night snack bars found on the streets of South Korea. Koo’s patrons, however, are not human; they are a robotic eel, a snail and a gummy bear, through whom he serves a journey of culinary and cultural memory. Woven from intimate and absurd anecdotes, the piece reflects Koo’s own experience of living in Europe since 2011 and the persistent sensation of being a tourist in one’s own past. The performance unfolds on 20 August 2026, offering a quietly devastating meditation on displacement, belonging and the strange solace of synthetic companions. Ticket prices are available on the festival website.

Theatremaker Jaha Koo invites you to to his pojangmacha, a late-night snack bar found on the streets of South Korea. Koo doesn’t serve sleep-deprived humans, instead, his customers are a robotic eel, a snail and a gummy bear, who take the audience on a culinary and cultural journey peppered with intimate and absurd anecdotes. Koo has lived in Europe since 2011 and now often feels like a tourist when he visits Korea. In Haribo Kimchi, food and culture are endlessly intertwined. One moment he may cook up a sublime seaweed soup, and the next, reflect on painful racist experiences and his deep longing for home. Koo’s 2019 production Cuckoo was described as a ‘powerfully affecting work’ (The Herald), and Haribo Kimchi promises a show that zigzags between cultural appreciation and the realities of cultural alienation. Combining music, video and robots, Koo’s performance plays on all the senses while serving up his personal stories with a dash of melancholy and a sprinkle of wit.

Description supplied by the event organiser.

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Frequently asked questions

Edinburgh International Festival: Haribo Kimchi takes place on Thursday, 20 August 2026 at 01:00.

Edinburgh International Festival: Haribo Kimchi is held at Studio Theatre in Edinburgh (The Studio 22 Potterrow, Edinburgh South EH8 9BL).

Tickets for Edinburgh International Festival: Haribo Kimchi can be booked via whatsoninedinburgh.co.uk using the "Check Tickets & Live Prices" button on this page, which opens the official booking site in a new tab.