A vacuum cleaner might seem an unlikely starting point for an absorbing piece of theatre about growing up under the demands of economic and technological progress. Yet KASSNA’s ‘User Manual for a Broken Machine’ takes this ordinary domestic object and builds an inventive, energetic production around it, exploring the human cost of being expected to always function efficiently.
Written and directed by Namoo Chae Lee, the work begins with a broken Daewoo vacuum cleaner and the instructions intended to restore it to working order. From this simple premise emerges a much larger question: who actually gets to decide what constitutes a malfunction? Applied to a machine, the answer might appear straightforward, but applied to a person (or society), it becomes considerably more troubling.
Three performers give this exploration its distinctive theatrical form. Eden Jun’s reading of the manual anchors the production’s examination of obedience and expectation, while performer and movement director Suyoung Park draws on a background in hip-hop and traditional Korean dance to bring physical expression to the material. Seayool, also the music director, provides beautiful live music on the piri a traditional Korean double-reed instrument, played with considerable beauty. There is real pleasure in watching the story unfold through this interplay of instruction, movement and sound, with all three performers sustaining the high energy that makes the evening so compelling.
The production is particularly effective in connecting personal struggles with South Korea’s rapid industrialisation and technological development. It captures the difficulty of growing up within an economy whose ambitions can become expectations imposed upon the individual. Prosperity brings opportunities, but also demands: to achieve, adapt and keep moving. Here, those pressures become recognisable human experiences, allowing the audience to consider what happens to people who cannot comfortably fulfil the roles assigned to them.
The unusual presentation is one of the evening’s greatest strengths, with instruction manuals and troubleshooting procedures providing a framework through which questions of identity, productivity and belonging can unfold. The approach gives the material freshness, while the storytelling remains engaging enough to carry its substantial themes. Its darkly comic premise also offers an effective way of approaching the uncomfortable idea that a person might be judged by the same standards as an appliance. Technology also contributes well to the theatrical experience, supporting the production’s inventive presentation, and its use feels appropriate to a work concerned with the relationship between people and the systems that organise their lives, adding interest while keeping the performers central.
KASSNA has created a thoughtful and thoroughly engaging piece of theatre, with a distinctive method of telling its story. The combination of movement, live music, text and technology makes for a memorable evening, but it is the human struggle beneath the invention that stays with you. For a show concerned with things that have stopped working, ‘User Manual for a Broken Machine’ works remarkably well.
The show was presented as part of Bloomsbury Festival 2026 but will be performed again as part of future festivals. You can learn more about KASSNA’s productions here: https://www.kassnas.com
Reviewer: Alan Stuart Malin
Reviewed: 9th October 2026
North West End UK Rating: