Showing 101 - 110 of 110
Frissons at La fete
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 14/03/2012
» It had become a bit too predictable. When La Fete rolled around every year we were practically certain to be treated to some sensuous, wordless, performance. While these imported shows never failed to offer beautiful, even novel theatrical experiences, after years of religiously attending productions staged during the festival I couldn't help craving something more challenging _ both for the senses and the intellect.
A Decade of Development
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 07/03/2012
» The 10th Bangkok Theatre Festival (BTF) drew to a close on Sunday in an air-conditioned meeting room at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), marking the first time the event held its closing ceremony indoors. The choice of venue also signifies the beginning of a new friendship.
Poetry in motion
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 01/03/2012
» Never had the motion, of a live show, its rhythm and flow, stayed within me the way that of Stereoptik has. Stereoptik, by Stereoptik, blows up the intimacy of two artists focused on rendering one world after and within another in real time onto a big screen, into a communal experience, like the cinema. Or is it a two-dimensional dance? A concert? A wordless poem?
Co-authoring, not performing
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 16/02/2012
» Tim Crouch went into acting with questions and uncertainty, rather than in hopes of achieving personal fame. When he decided to enrol at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, he said it was because he didn't think he knew what an actor was. And ultimately he felt that the training he got there didn't "show me what an actor is, only what he is not". He gradually came to the realisation that he had become an actor with a dead-end job _ acting _ and that taking part in conventional drama productions was preventing him from "authoring his creativity", as he puts it.
Steadily Forward
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 15/02/2012
» Before ushering the Bangkok Theatre Festival (BTF) into its 10th year, Nut Nualpang, founder of Saosoong Theatre and this year's festival programme director, strapped the regular members of the Bangkok Theatre Network (BTN), comprising a handful of small professional theatre companies, onto the operating table. Not only did they come under the knives of fellow artists and audience members, these theatre practitioners also got to spill their guts in a series of informal talks called kheun khiang (literally "getting on the chopping block").
Troupes on display
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 15/02/2012
» In the hodgepodge of student, amateur, professional and comeback theatre troupes that, for a decade, have together defined the Bangkok Theatre Festival (BTF), it can be difficult to discover the shining newcomers. Even those who have been on the scene for years can easily get lost in the muddle. While regular theatre-goers may prefer to invest their energy in watching the works of long-standing reputable troupes, sometimes it's the new discoveries that make your theatre-going experience all the more worthwhile and exciting. We talked to newly formed and lesser-known companies of veterans and new blood to give you a glimpse into this year's festival and the direction of the local theatre scene.
Theatre as a mirror
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 02/02/2012
» We asked a number of local playwrights, directors and performers to pick a play they believe speaks about present-day Thailand. The play could be thousands of years old or recently written. We didn't limit the choice to works originally written in Thai.
Therapy as art, and vice versa
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 25/01/2012
» Growing up in this country, I often heard people say that Thais don't go to psychiatrists to sort out their problems; they go to fortune-tellers. Later, while I was living in the West, I saw many individuals running to counsellors and therapists to untangle the knots and smooth out the bumps in their lives.
Courageous convictions
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 19/01/2012
» 'When we came back and saw the state of our school, we didn't know where to begin. We didn't know what to touch first or pick up first," said Janaprakal "Khru Chang" Chandruang.
A casualty of flood
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 02/01/2012
» The water comes to Patravadi Theatre every year, like to everyone else in soi Wat Rakang. This year it arrived in much greater quantity and stayed there longer than usual, but long enough to force Patravadi Theatre to close its door for good. The damage is too great to turn the place back into a functioning theatre once more. But its owner Patravadi Mejudhon is least sentimental about the loss.