Seoul Hongdae NANTA Show

NANTA is a performance that uses kitchen utensils such as frying pans, spoons, and knives, combined with traditional Korean music, samulnori, and a humorous story. Through relentless effort, NANTA vividly showcases Korean national culture within an hour and a half. Regardless of gender, age, or nationality, audiences can laugh heartily—this is NANTA.

Have you ever seen a performance that elevates various kitchen tools into musical instruments? Have you watched an early Korean non‑verbal performance? Do you know what the most popular and representative musical in Korea is? Perhaps you have guessed it—yes, it's NANTA! It will take you to experience the real Korea, allowing you to understand the original and pure Korea from a cultural and artistic perspective. If you are worried about not being able to understand NANTA because you don't know Korean, there is no need to worry. Since the show has no dialogue, you will face no language barriers while watching. The actors' brilliant and comical performances will keep you laughing from start to finish, making you genuinely fall in love with this non‑verbal performance!

Seating Chart:

Performance Highlights:

Highlight 1: A non‑verbal performance with no language barriers, allowing local audiences to easily grasp the fun.

Highlight 2: The combination of traditional Korean music and modern stagecraft lets you understand Korean traditional culture.

Highlight 3: The common space of a kitchen is used as the stage, with a plot full of drama.

Highlight 4: The audience becomes part of the stage performance, co‑creating with the actors.

The NANTA Effect:

On 10 October 1997 at the Hoam Art Hall, NANTA conquered Korea, even shattering the large glass decorations in the theatre lobby due to the overwhelming crowd. NANTA is the first Asian performance to have a long‑running show on Broadway. To date, NANTA has held over 46,000 performances in more than 318 cities across 58 countries and regions, bringing joy to over five million audiences.

Plot Introduction:

A head chef with superb cooking skills who always likes to flatter the manager; a handsome and charming Sexy Guy with average cooking skills; and a beautiful, outwardly shy but inwardly energetic female chef. What will happen when these three chefs work together? A wedding banquet is about to take place. While the three chefs are busy preparing the dinner, the manager brings his nephew into the kitchen and asks the chefs to teach him how to cook. With only an hour left until the banquet, the three chefs naturally see the newcomer as a big trouble and treat him unfriendly. When these four young people with distinct personalities come together, what interesting things will happen between them? Can they complete the task within the allotted time?

Development History:

Since its premiere in October 1997, it has received a warm welcome. To date, it has become the performance in Korean performance history that can most actively involve the audience. It first gained high praise at the Edinburgh Festival in 1999. In February 2004, as the first Asian performance group to appear on the Broadway stage in New York, it achieved success.

In 2012, it won the Korean Guinness Tourism Award and, as a representative Korean cultural tourism product, became a must‑visit for foreign tourists coming to Korea.

Currently, 14 million audiences around the world have watched NANTA and been deeply moved by its charm. There is a permanent dedicated venue for NANTA in Seoul. NANTA has always aimed for long‑term performances in Korea, and in 2009, NANTA won the Excellent City Project Award.