The Kelly Strayhorn Theater will host "C.Ryu and Kayla Tange Presents: Futurity of the Womb: Myth of the Cyborg Kisaeng" on August 30.
Futurity of the Womb: The Myth of the Cyborg Kisaeng is an experimental, 60-minute multimedia performance that reimagines Korean history through the lens of feminist mythology. Blending ritual, burlesque, speculative fiction, and mythology, the piece unfolds in four sections, interweaving live performance, video projection, and audience interaction.
Traditionally, kisaengs were enslaved Korean courtesans, forced to entertain those in power while mastering the arts. Futurity of the Womb is a time-traveling performance that redefines the kisaeng’s legacy beyond the constraints of history. The cyborg becomes a vessel for interrogating our codependence with technology and identity, reflecting on power manufactured by human limitations.
- Mudang Jenn Kim, a Korean-American shaman, invokes the first cosmic mother of Korea, MAGO, who was shamed for her larger-than-life power.
- Kayla Tange merges the kisaeng and abandoned Princess Bari to explore grief and adoption as a portal, dwelling in the space between the living and the dead.
- C. Ryu reimagines the gumiho, a nine-tailed fox demon that consumed men’s livers and hearts to survive, as a cyborg—alchemizing complicit desire.
Futurity of the Womb offers not a single narrative, but a timeline rewritten—a mythos where stories once censored emerge alive, electric, and here. This is not a return to history—it’s a reprogramming.
**Funding for the “Futurity of the Womb: Myth of the Cyborg Kisaeng” was provided by the Exposure Artists Program of The Pittsburgh Foundation. An additional thank you for the support provided by the Pedantic Arts Residency.
Photo Credit: Brendan Lott & C. Ryu
Content Warning: This event is for ages 18+ due to nudity, sex work, gore, and demonology storytelling.
Content Warning: This event includes strobing lights and loud sounds.
The performance runs from 7:30 to 8:30 pm and tickets are available online. The Kelly Strayhorn Theater's Alloy Studios are located at 5530 Penn Ave. in East Liberty (map).
