Showing 41 - 50 of 72
Thailand in a room
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 05/02/2015
» None of us own Bang-La-Merd, but we are all living in it. In Bang-La-Merd, you must be careful not to use the words "freedom" and "rights". The term "human rights" is especially sensitive and most likely prohibited, and in circumstances relating to the sacred, absolutely irrelevant. In Bang-La-Merd, it is advisable to not criticise all that you love and uphold for it is illegal to criticise those whom you must love and uphold.
Playing with roles
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 04/12/2014
» Two plays and a dance opened in Bangkok last Thursday. All three of which required their performers to play multiple roles.
Theatre festival round-up
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 20/11/2014
» The 13th edition of the Bangkok Theatre Festival (BTF) has come and gone. This year, the theatre scene seems to have churned out a record-breaking number of productions and festivals. And somehow the small, yet growing community still manages to organise this annual theatre event and fill up most of the small venues around Bangkok.
Plastic Girl opens Thong Lor Art Space
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 16/10/2014
» Pattareeya Puapongsakorn is undoubtedly the most promising young playwright on the Bangkok scene today. Back in July her play The Plastic Girl In The Fantastic World premiered at Take Off Festival for fresh university graduates. It was the only production from the festival (so far) picked up by theatre professionals and refitted in a flashier production with an entirely new cast of Thailand's top comedic actors — and is now known as Plastic Girl. It was chosen as the play to officially open a stylish new performance venue, Thong Lor Art Space, which has already been hosting and producing several programmes of short performances since May.
Stage artists feel fettered by censorship
News, Amitha Amranand, Published on 24/09/2014
» There is a song going around. The Song of Commoners, it is called.
Lesbians, makeovers and Barbie dolls
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 31/07/2014
» The first "Take Off Festival" drew to a close last weekend. Designed as a platform for new graduates to present their work in a professional context for the first time, the festival featured five small-scale productions over four weekends in July at the Spark School of Dramatic Arts. The programme was commendable for its relevance and diversity in genre and subject matter.
Setting the stage for change
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 18/12/2013
» As more and more people fall victim to Thailand's censorship laws _ and as the political divide deepens _ the local theatre scene continues to flourish. It is easily the artistic field least supported by the state, and receives little to no corporate sponsorship. As a result, theatre artists have mostly escaped the state censors' radar _ compared to, say, film _ and are mainly free from creating work to fulfil nationalistic, ultra-royalist agendas in order to obtain funding. Thus, theatre is probably the most politically minded among all forms of artistic and cultural expression in Thailand.
Playing with contradictions
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 28/11/2013
» Despite their metallic grey sheen, their shapes and details clearly indicated their roots _ khon. Looking closer, however, and instead of the usual full, growling faces of the khon demons, the cheeks and eyes of these masks designed by Anuthep Potchprasart resembled those of a skeleton. The first few notes plucked from the traditional Chinese guqin zither unfolded an ominous blanket over the show.
A scaly romance
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 28/11/2013
» Dreambox has brought their 14-year-old play Nang Phaya Ngu Khao (Lady White Snake) back to the stage, this time transforming it into a sung-through musical. The company's musicals are often lovely and probably of the best quality in Thailand. And this latest one, which ended its run at M Theatre this past weekend, was no different.
The spirit of the originals
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 04/07/2013
» Although stage adaptations of novels and Western plays have become increasingly regular on the Bangkok theatre scene in recent years, only in this past year has there been an exciting sprout in original plays.