Showing 1 - 9 of 9
Like dolls in boxes
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 16/12/2019
» Before we were ushered into the theatre one floor above the waiting area at Hostbkk theatre and dance studio, the actors, clad in period costumes, stared down at us from behind glass windows, still and silent like dolls in boxes.
Not entirely transfixing
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 07/06/2019
» For its second production, Qrious Theatre transplants the 2005 American film Transamerica to Thailand. TranS I-Am is an awkward US-to-Thailand and screen-to-stage adaptation, but it's sweet and offbeat enough to charm.
Shows for all seasons
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 15/03/2018
» March kicked off with the return of French choreographer Jérôme Bel to Bangkok, bringing with him two productions to close the French Highlights #3. Then English-speaking theatre company Peel the Limelight celebrated International Women's Day with the premiere of their latest production of Agnes Of God in their new and larger venue, Peel the Limelight Studio, just across from their old home, Spark Drama Studio, at Jasmine City building in Asok. And Bangkok-based Japanese theatre artist Shogo Tanikawa founded his own theatre company Scene Zero and gave birth to a new play. Here are our reviews of these performances.
Walking in the rain
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 08/06/2017
» Heavy rain in Bangkok can deter people from a lot, including going to see a play in an unfamiliar or notoriously congested location. It should have also deterred Full Fat Theatre from staging a show in a warehouse that had not been converted into a performance space, meaning metal roof still intact and no acoustic design whatsoever. Alas, it didn't.
The past that haunts
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 30/06/2016
» More and more, theatre artists are tucking messages about memory, history and tyranny into the crevices of the quotidian. More and more, between the lines of mundane conversations among siblings in the home, lies something political.
Going through the grieving process
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 09/06/2016
» On the Thai stage, we rarely get to see domestic scenes with nuanced emotional conflicts. No sooner does tension begin to form than it is resolved by a comedic means. In our everyday life, too, Thais prefer to avoid discussion of our emotions. Most Thais don't spend hours in therapy sessions every week. Our first instinct is not to seek out professional help to fix our psychological health.
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.
One for the money, two for the show
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 22/08/2013
» Women Of Asia returns to the spotlight almost three decades after its conception here in Thailand. Written and directed by Korean-American theatre artist Asa Gim Palomera, the play comprises eight unrelated scenes and monologues inspired by real-life stories of women across Asia, collected from news articles and humanitarian agencies. And while in Palomera's hands the stories are moving and ring true, the play is stylistically dated and heavy-handed to the point of distraction.
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.