Let's not talk politics

WITH TEERAWAT “KA-GE” Mulvilai’s “Mano Land” staged last month as part of the Diverse Arts Festival and “Something Missing” earlier this month at the Bangkok Theatre Festival and Low Fat Art Fest, B-Floor Theatre continues to push forward at full strength. Part of the reason why it is now the most prolific theatre company in Thailand and Southeast Asia is that because many members of the company can and are creating works, often with actors from other companies here and overseas. In addition the number of its own members continues to increase.

Now Teerawat’s co-artistic director, Jarunun “Jaa” Phantachat, last year’s recipient of Silpathorn Award, is ready to present her new work “Ceci n’est pas la politique”.

“The title is inspired by Rene Magritte’s famous painting ‘Ceci n’est pas une pipe’ [‘This is not a Pipe’],” Jaa confirms.

“Many people say every action, or decision, of ours is political so I’d like to ask the audience to reconsider whether that’s true. The content of the written text, though, has nothing to do with politics.”

“In this age of information technology, we choose to receive certain facts and turn a blind eye to many others,” Jaa continues.

“I first discussed the idea with our script writer Pattareeya Puapong-sakorn [a young playwright who won the Sodsai Award, the national contest for university student playwrights], telling her that I wanted to work with a script but that it wouldn’t be presented on stage in the usual way. She came up with a structure we could use to work with the performers in the rehearsal where she further developed it. And due to the interactive nature of this work, she’s willing to see her script, which has a clear storyline and can also be staged in a non-interactive style, deconstructed again and again during the performance.”

Three B-Floor members – Ornanong Thaisriwong, Dujdao Vadhanapakorn and Sasapin Siriwanij – are being joined by New Theatre Society’s Parnrut Kritchanchai and Democrazy Theatre’s Pavinee Samakkabutr as well as independent actress, playwright and director Napak Tricharoendej.

In preparation for the actual performance, Jaa has asked many artist friends to sit in, watch and participate. The same cast members perform in Thai and English on alternate evenings because, Jaa says, “It’s impossible to put surtitles in this performance as notwithstanding the script, it will be different from one evening to another”. That’s good news for B-Floor’s non-Thai speaking fan base, which has grown significantly over the past few years.

“I’m interested in the interactive performance because it gives the power back to the audience. They can thus decide what to take from our work, instead of us having a predetermined message to deliver to them,” Jaa says.

And despite B-Floor being known as a physical theatre company, Jaa promises that the audience participation part will not be physically demanding. “We just want you to share some opinions. It’s okay if all members of the audience sign up as ‘active’ [and pay Bt130 less than those who want to observe only]. If, on the other hand, the audience on any given evening just wants to sit back, relax and watch, they’ll get to see the play as it’s written by Pattareeya, which is already a fun play.”

And unlike Jaa’s semi-public performance “Test of Endurance” earlier this year, we don’t have to email her and agree to certain conditions in order to watch this work. 

 

GET INVOLVED

 - “Ceci n’est pas la politique” is at Democrazy Theatre Studio on Soi Saphan Khu, a 10-minute walk along Rama IV Road from MRT Lumphini, exit 1.

- It’s in Thai on December 8-9, 12, 13, 18 and 20 and in English on December 10, 11, 16, 17 and 19. Shows are at 8.

-  Tickets are Bt520 (Bt400 for students, Bt650 for non-participating audience members).

-  Call (089) 167 4039 or e-mail [email protected] or check www.BFloorTheatre.com.