Showing 1 - 10 of 22
A stroll through nostalgia and hope
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 21/04/2022
» After the first Covid lockdown in Thailand in 2020, the first performance that brought Bangkok theatregoers back to the physical space was Fullfat Theatre's Save For Later. At that time, the number of cases in Thailand was at a negligible level, and the idea of physical distancing and other pandemic measures were still a novelty. These inconveniences and constraints inspired and pushed theatre artists to experiment and create. Digital technology had a large presence in live performances back then, even in on-site ones.
Of madness and joy
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 25/11/2019
» We review two original works -- a Thai-language political satire and an English-language musical -- with LGBTQ central characters.
Dance without a safety net
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 09/08/2018
» Choreographer Thanapol Virulhakul is adamant about creating performances that defy the definition of dance. In his "contemporary dance piece" Hipster The King, performers stand in a tableau for most of the show. In Happy Hunting Ground, the choreography consists mostly of jogging up and down the stage.
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.
Transmitting human angst
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 01/03/2018
» Second time's a charm for Fullfat Theatre at Warehouse 30. The company returns to the space that had dwarfed and overwhelmed the troupe's first play [Co/exist] with its sheer size and uninsulated high ceiling. With the new play, Taxiradio, playwright-director and Fullfat co-founder Nophand Boonyai has successfully tamed the rugged space to achieve not only live performance suitability, but also intimacy.
Freeform art
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 01/12/2017
» A decade ago, theatre was still seen an art form on the margin in Thailand. That is less true today. Visual art and design events are beginning to include theatre in their programmes. The new art and design event Freeform Festival has revived an abandoned school building at ACMEN Ekamai Complex with exhibitions, workshops, food trucks, plays and dance. Their performing arts programme is a solid one. Hopefully, this will become another platform for quality theatre in the future.
Politics? What politics?
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 28/09/2017
» Jaa Pantachat's revival of her 2015 experimental comedic whodunnit Ceci N'est Pas La Politique (This Is Not Politics) may have maintained its original structure and storyline, but in this trimmed and funnier version, it has gained both clarity and poignancy.
Life's agonies, magnified three-fold
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 24/08/2017
» Theatre director Bhanbhassa Dhubthien may not be known for novel or subversive interpretations of plays, but she has always worked with good actors, from whom she draws out the kind of nuanced performances we don't often see here in Thailand. She has also worked with texts of varying degrees of difficulty and ripeness. So even when the writing fails, her actors can always steer the production from complete disaster.
A dull history lesson
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 24/08/2017
» Anatta Theatre Troupe's Rak Talerd (Love Astray) is a small play with lots of big messages and an even bigger desire to educate the audience about Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram's regime, from his fascist approach to the modernisation and Westernisation of Thailand to the Franco-Thai War to Siam's alliance with Japan during World War II.
Touch, move, interact, open up
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 20/07/2017
» Even when they're about violence, Dujdao Vadhanapakorn's shows always feel inviting. Perhaps it's because of her therapy background (Dujdao is Thailand's first dance movement psychotherapist) that she likes to create the kind of space -- physical and emotional -- that invites you to touch, move, interact or open up.