Haenyeo: Women of the Sea

Two women, one older and one younger, smiling and holding handmade puppets, sitting behind a stage with a blue cloth backdrop and a glittery tablecloth, with stage lighting highlighting their faces.

A small plush doll wearing a pink headband and a black jacket sitting on green fishing nets beside a large orange fishing buoy with black writing, near the ocean with a clear blue sky and distant landforms in the background.

Kay Yasugi and Youngkyu Kwon performing Haenyeo: Women of the Sea — a puppetry and immersive theatre show about the women divers of Jeju Island, Korea. Kay is holidng a crocheted puppet of a haenyeo diver in front of a blue silk backdrop.

Suitable for: Ages 6+, Families | Duration: 25 minutes

Available for select bookings — contact us to discuss.

Deep beneath the waters of Jeju Island, Korea, the Haenyeo — women divers — have passed down their traditions from mother to daughter for generations. This intimate, immersive theatre piece weaves together Korean music, puppetry, and crochet to tell their story.

Performed by a real mother and daughter.

Kay Yasugi and Youngkyu Kwon in costume for their original show Haenyeo: Women of the Sea. Kay wears a white cotton diving shirt and Youngkyu wears a brown shirt for farming. Both have pink diving masks and are smiling to the camera.

About the Show

Haenyeo: Women of the Sea was created by Kay Yasugi and her mother Youngkyu Kwon (Yong), inspired by a research trip to Jeju Island, South Korea in 2018 — partly funded by a grant from the Seaborn, Broughton and Walford Foundation.

The show premiered at the International Figura Offida Festival in Offida, Italy in 2019, and has since been performed at the Melbourne Festival of Puppetry and the Culture Mix Multicultural Festival in Wollongong, NSW.

Who Are the Haenyeo?

Two women smiling and exchanging a small sock puppet outside a building with glass windows and wooden siding.

The Haenyeo are the women free-divers of Jeju Island, South Korea — diving without breathing apparatus to depths of 5–20 metres to harvest shellfish, seaweed, and seafood for their families. They can hold their breath for up to two minutes. The eldest Haenyeo are in their nineties, and their tradition has lasted over 600 years.

They are one of the only matriarchal communities in the world. Jeju Haenyeo were listed by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016.

Sadly, their tradition is slowly dying out. We want to share their story.

Why This Show

We want Haenyeo: Women of the Sea to invite families and audiences of all ages to reflect on their own traditions — what has been passed down to them, and what they want to pass on. It brings to the forefront a story and culture rarely seen in mainstream Australian theatre: empowering, matriarchal, and quietly extraordinary.

Watch

In 2020, Kay was interviewed by Annemarie Terblanche for her Facebook series Earthling Stories — a four-minute mini-documentary about the making of the show, featuring footage of the real Haenyeo divers and the performance itself.