Venue: Korean Theatre of Kazakhstan
Town: Almaty, KZ

The Korean Theatre or Koryo Theatre (Kazakh: Корей Театры, romanized: Korei Teatry; Korean: 고려극장) is a national theatre that specializes in the culture of Korea in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It is operated by and associated with the Koryo-saram community: ethnic Koreans of the former Soviet Union. The theatre troupe has operated since 1932, making it the oldest still-running Korean theatre troupe in the world, including in Korea. It moved to Almaty in 1968, and into its current building in December 2003. The theatre is a notable cultural hub for Koryo-mar, the dialect of Koryo-saram. All productions are in Korean, with simultaneous translation into Russian. The theatre is located around 30 minutes from downtown by car. They have a Seoul Metropolitan Government-branded bus used to shuttle audience members that was donated to them by the mayor of Seoul (and later president of South Korea) Lee Myung-bak. As of 2012, the theatre employed 96 people, around half of whom were performers. A traditional Korean performance was held every Saturday. Plays cover a variety of topics. Some cover the Korean independence movement against the Empire of Japan, some cover Koryo-saram heroes like Hong Beom-do, and others are more historical or traditional Korean plays. It was originally established on 9 September 1932 as the Far Eastern Krai Korean Theatre (극동지방고려극단; Дальневосточный краевой корейский театр) in Vladivostok, during the 1910-1945 Japanese occupation of Korea. This not only makes it one of the only Korean theatres outside of Korea, it also makes it one of the oldest still-running Korean theatres including even in Korea. Around the time of its creation, actors were looked down upon by the community. This changed due to Soviet Union norms about all professions being respectable. Art and drama also took up societal positions of prominence under Soviet policies, which led to acting even becoming a desirable role. In September 1937, the theatre company became divided during the forced