Director
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Ekaterina was born on September 11, 1996, in Karaganda.
From 2012 to 2016, she received a specialized secondary education in “Musical Comedy Theater Acting” at the Tattimbet Karaganda College of Arts. Course supervisor – G.A. Kozhushkina. Training was based in the Karaganda Academic Musical Comedy Theater.
From 2016 to 2021, she graduated with honors from the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Culture with a degree in Theater Directing, Faculty of Directing and Variety Performance. Workshop of V.V. Kuzmin and S.I. Gogun.
Her graduation drama performance “The Woman in the Dunes” (based on the novel by Kobo Abe) took place on the stage of ARTiSHOCK Experimental Theater (Almaty). After graduating, Ekaterina was invited to collaborate with ARTiSHOCK, where she curated the actor-director course in 2021 and taught the subject “Directing of Physical Theater.”
Since October 2022, she has been a stage director at the Republican State Academic Korean Theater of Musical Comedy.
Selected Works:
- “The Fisherman’s Daughter”, directed by Yulduz Bakhtiyozina
Premiere: 2020
Role: Actress - “The Woman in the Dunes” — A dramatic play based on the novel by Kobo Abe
Premiere: April 2021
Experimental Theater “ARTiSHOCK”
Role: Director, Script Adaptation - “Neutrals” — A staged reading of the play by Sofya Gordeyeva-Ufimtsyeva
Festival of Contemporary Drama “Drama.kz”, “ARTiSHOCK”
Premiere: October 2021
Role: Director - “SOAP OPERA POWDER SHOW” — A theatrical site-specific performance
Premiere: February–March 2022, Powder, Almaty
Role: Director, Producer - “IVY THRILLER” — A theatrical site-specific performance
Premiere: May 2022, IVY, Almaty
Role: Director, Producer - “I’m a Woman” — A musical-poetic performance
Premiere: July 2022, VANGOG, Almaty
Role: Director - “I Am Five Thousand Years Old” — A theatrical performance
Directed by Tatyana Kim and Anatoliy O.
Shown as part of the exhibition “Behind the Door”: a social art project against domestic violence in Kazakhstan
Supported by: CITIX — Smart City; AdTech; Binance NFT
Premiere: October 2022, Central Museum, Almaty
Role: Actress - “Immersion” — A short film
Directed by Aruzhan Maratkizy
Premiere: October 2022
Role: Actress - “SPOTLIGHT” — Documentary film about the descendants of Korean Heroes.
Screenwriter: Yevgeniy Ni.
Joint project with the “DOKNIP PATRIOT” Foundation.
Premiere: November 2022
Role: Director - “Koblandy” — A dramatic and physical theater performance.
Director: Anna Tsoi
Republican State Academic Korean Theater
Premiere: December 2022
Role: Co-director - “Snow Queen.TV” — A musical performance.
Republican State Academic Korean Theater
Premiere: December 2022
Role: Director, Script Adaptation - “A Beauty’s Heart” — A pop-theater show.
Republican State Academic Korean Theater
Premiere: March 2023
Role: Director, Scriptwriter - “Prosit!” — A surreal drama based on The Petite Bourgeois Wedding by Bertolt Brecht.
Republican State Academic Korean Theater
Premiere: October 2023
Role: Director, Script Adaptation
Awards: - Recognized by the Theatre Critics Association of Kazakhstan for Best Choreography and Work of a Choreographer (2023)
- Nominations: “Performance of the Year”, “Duet of the Year”, “Actress of the Year” — Nadezhda Kim for the role of the Mother
- “Portrait in Motion” — A music video project.
Joint project with the “DOKNIP PATRIOT” Foundation
Premiere: November 2023
Role: Director, Screenwriter - “Zheruyik” — A photo project
Photographer: Aruzhan Aytenova
Stylist: Abzal Seydin
Published in MOB magazine (Canada), January 2024
Role: Producer - “All About Love” — A musical-poetic concert
Republican State Academic Korean Theater
Premiere: March 2024
Role: Director, Scriptwriter - “Melody of the Soul” — A musical-poetic concert
Republican State Academic Korean Theater
Premiere: May 2024
Role: Director, Scriptwriter - “Yin-Yang” — A theatrical production
Script by Yevgeniy Ni
Republican State Academic Korean Theater
Premiere: June 2024
Role: Director - “A Step Forward” — A short play dedicated to the descendants of Korean independence fighters.
Joint project with the “DOKNIP PATRIOT” Foundation
Script by Yevgeniy Ni
Movement Director: Anna Tsoi
Republican State Academic Korean Theater
Premiere: November 2024
Role: Director - “Moth” — A surreal drama based on the play by Zh. Soltieva
Republican State Academic Korean Theater
Premiere: December 2024
Role: Director, Script Adaptation - “Seollal 2025: A Winter Night’s Dream” — A theatrical celebration of Korean New Year
Script by Yevgeniy Ni
Republican State Academic Korean Theater
Premiere: January 2025
Role: Director - “THREE THEATERS” Laboratory — A collaborative project between three theaters:
- Republican State Academic Korean Musical Comedy Theater
- Republican State Academic Uighur Musical Comedy Theater named after K. Kuzhamyarov
- Republican German Drama Theater
Premiere: February – May 2025
Role: Director, Organizer
- Since 2024, Yekaterina Pen has been studying for her Master’s degree in Theater Studies at the Kazakh National Academy of Arts named after T. Zhurgenov, majoring in Theory and History of Theatrical Art.
Publications:
“Cultural Integration and the Transformation of the Idea of National Identity in the Korean Theatre of Kazakhstan.”
No. 25 (2025), Republican Scientific Journal “QAZAQTANY”
Published: March 26, 2025
Professional Development, Seminars, Masterclasses, Awards:
- Directing Masterclass by Lloyd Kaufman, founder of the Troma studio – June 2018
- Masterclass “Movement, Gesture, Word…” by Natalia Fisson, St. Petersburg Theatre Partnership “Comic-Trust” – March 2019
- Masterclass “Tap Dance as a Means of Plastic Expression in Variety Performances” by M.M. Umalets, Vice-President of the St. Petersburg Tap Dance Federation – March 2019
- Attendee of the 5th All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference “Variety Art: Current Issues of Stage Embodiment”
Participants included:
Stefano Maria Capiluppi, Professor Daniele Donati (Italy),
People’s Artist of Russia V.A. Krivonos,
Honored Artist of Uzbekistan Firuza Sabitova – March 2019 - Laureate of 3rd Degree, 67th International Contest of Stage Art, organized by the Gifted Children and Youngsters Support Fund
SPbGIK, St. Petersburg, Russia
Nomination: Theatrical Art – 2023 - 1st Degree Laureate at the 2nd International Competition of Projects and Startups in the Creative Industry “ONER 2025”
Project: “Cultural Identity in the Digital Age: Visual Strategy of the Korean Theatre”
Almaty – April 2025 - Letter of Appreciation from the Vice Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan, A. Sydykov – Astana, 2025