Showing 1 - 10 of 12
The evolution of an artist
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 01/04/2021
» It's impossible for me to critique choreographer Jitti Chompee's latest show Melancholy Of Demon without viewing it as part of a larger project, which also includes a film, a book, a photo exhibition, a dance demonstration and a seminar of a more academic nature. The show was staged at Lido Connect from March 18-22. This review is the first part of an essay about the project and focuses only on Melancholy Of Demon.
New singers, oldest band
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 28/03/2019
» The Suntaraporn Foundation has been staging musicals for seven years, and I finally made the time to go see one this past Sunday. Theatre critics in Bangkok are very aware of their annual productions, but we have largely ignored it. Perhaps it has to do with our limited definition of "contemporary theatre", and our tendency to turn our noses up at anything that feels traditional and conservative.
The joyful, melancholic plastic dance
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 15/06/2017
» Without much direct contact with the human hands, French multidisciplinary performing-arts company Non Nova breathes life into plastic bags. And slowly, a ballet emerges.
Self-reflective play examines universal truths
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 30/03/2017
» Sineenadh Keitprapai and Thanaphon Accawatanyu, two generations of theatre artists, share stories of their dreams, homes and growing up and older in a touching, if not entirely satisfying, collaborative performance, Young Yao (Immature: Adult And Childish Sometimes).
The Metamorphosis
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 20/08/2015
» What would you do if you woke up one morning to find out that your own child had turned into a robot? How would you interact and coexist with something that speaks, thinks and feels like a human being yet does not look in any way human, not even a living creature?
Stunning visuals with a Thai-French flavour
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 25/06/2015
» The final La Fete, a French-Thai cultural festival, drew to a close last Saturday. For years, the festival provided the city its staple of wonder-filled and visually inventive dance and new-circus performances from France. It also occasionally supported experimental works by local artists.
An eclectic mix of shows from last week
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 05/02/2015
» This simple dance creation by Sun Tawalwongsri and Chatchanok Hemachandra may have sprung from a loose and hackneyed concept — our relationship with other human beings and our surroundings — but it succeeds in being minimal and controlled. Sun and Chatchanok are athletic dancers and move with clean precision. They are not identical, however. Sun usually has a penchant for melodrama, but here he keeps it under control. Chatchanok is more matter-of-fact when she dances but still knows how to show her vulnerability. The two have found an interesting way of incorporating pedestrian movements into their choreography; they not only dance with their arms, legs and feet but are also very expressive with their hands. For a piece about relationships, the show feels emotionally disjointed, and the dancers could have had more of a connection with each other. The most touching scene comes at the end when Sun backs away from Chatchanok as she continues to feel his imaginary form with her hands. The sense of absence and loss in that simple moment makes more of an emotional imprint than all of the other scenes combined.
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.
Foetus' dark dreams
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 14/08/2014
» When it comes to dance, it's difficult to tear the focus away from the body, especially when there's a heavily pregnant performer onstage. Yet Bo Kittiphon's latest butoh creation, A Fetus' Dream, co-directed by Grisana Punpeng, also journeys beyond the physicality and into places we seldom associate with motherhood.
Wide of the mark
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 09/05/2012
» Thai audiences have always responded to bonkers Japanese theatre artists with open arms, even audiences who are not regular theatre-goers. When Wangnin Bunmei first visited the Bangkok Fringe Festival a few years ago, the viewers at Patravadi Theatre adored their exuberant and noisy work. Their second trip to the country landed them in a Ratchaburi market, where the crowd, comprising of Bangkokians, the locals, and foreigners, went mad for their exuberance that seemed to echo the Thai-market atmosphere.