Another year, another curtain

After a largely successful run at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, the 11th edition Bangkok Theatre Festival drew to a close last weekend. With the last-minute move from its more usual performing grounds of Santi Chaiprakan Park and the restaurants along Phra Athit Road, organiser Bangkok Theatre Network will now have to evaluate the pros and cons of of the venues in their preparation for next year’s event.
For now, it’s evident that the immense financial and administrative support from the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) helped to smooth out any problems caused by the last-minute change while also making this year’s festival memorable.
On the plus side, it was convenient for the audience to reach the BACC by public transport and to hop from one room to another to watch different performances. The fourth floor studio reconfigured as a black box theatre fit most of the performances, though for an unrestricted view, the audience needed to be in the first row.
On the minus side, the Pathumwan intersection where the festival’s main outdoor stage was located during the festival’s first two weekends is one of the city’s noisiest and most polluted areas, a far cry from the pleasant atmosphere offered by Santi Chaiprakan park next to the Phra Sumen fortress.
Members of the Thailand centre of the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC) watched as many performances as they could during the 16-day festival and at the festival’s closing ceremony gave out awards in various categories. For the first time and thanks to the support of the BACC, the winners received prize money.
The biggest winner was B-Floor Theatre’s “Sandan Ka”, which was recognised with awards for Best Movement-Based Performance, Best Performance by an Ensemble, Best Art Direction and Best Direction of a Play or Movement-Based Performance.
This revival of their 2009 work was inspired by Anupong Chanthorn’s painting “Phikkhu Sandan Ka” (“Crow-natured Monks”) which, in a controversial move, won the gold medal at the 53rd National Exhibition of Art. In terms of physical movements, it’s highly influenced by Butoh, but this was Butoh that had been processed and adapted to fit the story as well as the Thai audience. The message was clear and poignant and the pace didn’t make anyone’s eyelids heavy, thanks to the roof-raising performance of the cast members as well as the set, costume, lighting and sound designs which fit well with the space and its limitations.
“Sandan Ka” was presented as part of a triple-bill, which started with cellist Saowakhon Muangkruan’s compelling solo performance though this would have been more comprehensible had she worked with a dramaturge or a director. This was followed by Crescent Moon Theatre’s “Lin Kab Fan Project” in which Babymime’s Thongglur Thongta collaborated with Crescent Moon’s Sineenadh Keitprapai, although the latter couldn’t quite match the former’s physical expertise.
Another work that despite the lack of accolades, demonstrated the commendably wide range of B-Floor was “The Last Gasp of a Mournful Heart” at the B-Floor Room.
In contrast to the powerful punches delivered by “Sandan Ka”, “Last Gasp” offered lingering caresses from its four female artists. Despite the keenly designed traverse stage set-up marked with reflexive surface, which interacted with the lighting in addition to the audience, the performance’s structure was like that of a series of music videos as physical movements were choreographed to one song after another.
The other big winner in the 2013 BTF Awards was New Theatre Society’s Thai translation of David Ives’ play “The Universal Language”, presented as part of their quadruple bill “Perfectly Imperfect” and already reviewed here. It was voted Best Play as well as Best Performance by a Female Artist, and Best Performance by a Female Artist, for, respectively, Priya Wongrabeab and Suphasawatt Puranaveja, both seasoned stage thespians.
Critics and audiences alike also welcomed the participation by theatre students from a few universities who also worked with professional companies and presented their works, a good introduction to the real world following graduation.

LAST GASP
There’s one more performances of “The Last Gasp of a Mournful Heart” at 7.30 tonight in the B-Floor Room at the Pridi Banomyong Institute on Thong Lor. Tickets are Bt400 (Bt350 for students and seniors). Call (089) 167 4039.
Pastel Theatre’s “Dramatists Must Die” continues from Friday to Sunday at 7.30pm in the Crescent Moon Space (next door to the B-Floor Room). Tickets are Bt350. Call (091) 775 1215.