The “Homosexual Code” in Contemporary Korean Theatre: The Case of Shakespeare’s R & J in Seoul

Abstract:This essay critiques the vogue of “the homosexual code” in contemporary Korean theatre, with a close-up analysis of ShowNote Company’s Shakespeare’s R & J that premiered in 2018. It first examines the surge of queer-themed films and theatres since the mid-2000s in relation to the growing visibility of homosexuality, the changing concept of masculinity, the “flower boy” syndrome, and neoliberalism in South Korea. Defining the “homosexual code” as a distancing strategy of encoding homosexuality to bypass homophobia, I problematize the way queer subject is appropriated for novelty and spectacle in the theatre industry. The second part of the essay examines ShowNote’s R & J in depth, partly in response to a recent discussion of Choo Min Ju’s Our Bad Magnet (2012) by Claire Maria Chambers. Pointing to a close resemblance between the two, I argue that both shows adopt the established formula of “the homosexual code,” contingent upon the neoliberal ideology of commodification and consumerism.