“Theater is the place to speak to the invisible world.”
Namoo(she/they) is a UK-based Theatre Director, Writer and Producer from South Korea. She is the Artistic Director of Kassna Kollektiv, an East Asian Female-led interdisciplinary art collective and Origins Director at Headlong Theatre.
Her works are political, questioning existing norms through an East Asian female lens. She is driven by themes of cultural colonialism, feminism, liminality, and restorative justice, and enjoys using form as a key element of storytelling across a range of genres — including plays, musicals, operas, dance, and puppetry.
Namoo often draws inspiration from folklore and mythology featuring powerful female figures, reimagining these tales as contemporary narratives. With a background in Korean ritual theatre, she believes theatre is a space that speaks to — and for — the invisible.
She has worked in the UK, USA, Japan, and Korea for the past 17 years and her script, The Man Who Goes Transparent, has been published by Doyo Arts Books.
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2025 Developing Your Creative Practice Grant (DYCP) | Arts Council England (UK)
2025 Fellowship | MacDowell Colony Artist’s Residency (NH, USA)
2025 ORIGINS Director | Headlong Theatre Company (UK)
2024 Short-listed, Jette Parker Director’s Fellowship | ROH (London, UK)
2024 Finalist | New York Dramatist’s Guild National Fellowship (NY, USA)
2017 Artist | Catskill Artists Residency (NY, USA)
2015 New Dramatists' Grant | CJ Cultural Foundation (Seoul, S. Korea)
2014 Best Young Director | Korean Shakespeare Awards (Seoul, S. Korea)
2013 New Playwrights' Grant | Korea Creative Contents Agency (Seoul, S. Korea)
2012 Best New Musical Award | Daegu International Musical Festival (S. Korea)
2012 Best Dramaturg | Korean Shakespeare Awards (Seoul, S. Korea)
EDUCATION
MFA in Theatre Directing | Birkbeck College, University of London | London, UK | 2024 (Receipient of Dean’s Bursary)
MFA in Musical Theatre Writing | Tisch School of Arts, New York University | New York, USA | 2010
BA in Journalism | Korea University | Seoul, South Korea | 2006
Katie Mitchelle’s Directing Masterclass | Short Course at RCSSD | London, UK | 2025 (Bursary Recipient)
Namoo ….
2nd of July, 2025
has received DYCP funding from Arts Council England for Cross-Cultulrla
has begun the Criterion Theatre’s Writers Group on the 1st of July.
is officially invited to the prestigious Macdowell Colony’s Artists Residency in the US for Feb-Mar, 2026.