Politics in movement

Withe support from Arts Council Korea and the country’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism – though none from its Thai counterpart – South Korean physical theatre company Theatre Momggol recently returned to Bangkok as artists-in-residence at Thong Lot Art Space (TLAS). This time the group stayed for two weeks as part of the second phase of collaboration with their Thai counterpart B-Floor Theatre. Originally scheduled as part of TLAS’s Low Fat Art Fest and Bangkok Theatre Festival, “Something Missing 2016: Rite of Passage” was instead presented as “private rehearsal” and “showcase performance”, for which donations were suggested, on November 12 and 13 as part of the ongoing Winter Breeze season at TLAS.

Korean and Thai physical theatre artists blend seamlessly in “Something Missing 2016: Rite of Passage”. Photo/Nutpajee Praparat

The dates were within the 30-day mourning period during which entertainment was curbed by the government, hence the labelling of the performance.
In fact, another international masked theatre performance collaboration, whose artists couldn’t adjust their travel plans, was also presented at another venue a week before. Neither of two examples suggests that theatre artists didn’t comply with the military government’s request. However, they did question what should be categorised as “entertainment”, as “tourist shows”, far more light-hearted and entertaining than these two works, maintained business as usual throughout the same period. 
Believing in what we’re told to have faith in, without even thinking about the reasons why we should do so, and witch-hunting those who believe differently is actually a subject matter of this dramatically compelling and stylistically adventurous work. The audience is welcomed to interpret it socially, culturally, and, given the recent situations here in Thailand and South Korea, politically. It’s again a reminder that in our supposedly democratic country, many political messages are better conveyed through physical movements, rather than spoken words. 

Korean and Thai physical theatre artists blend seamlessly in “Something Missing 2016: Rite of Passage”. Photo/Nutpajee Praparat

Like in last year’s “Something Missing”, the performers of two companies – namely B-Floor’s Sasapin Siriwanij, Sarut Komalittipong and Wasu Wanlayangoon, and Theatre Momggol’s Min Ki, Kim Jeong Eun, Noh Jea Hyun and Shin Jae Wook – performed as if they were part of the same company despite the short period of time they’d spent together. And again, Kamonpat Pimsarn’s soundscape created live mostly on his guitar sounded like he too was another physical theatre artist moving around the space. 
In the same way that his Korean counterpart Yoon Jong Yeon had fun with the architectural space of TLAS’s first floor studio last year, director Teerawat “Ka-ge” Mulvilai deftly and meaningfully used both the fourth and fifth floors, including the outdoors area. A pole in the middle of the latter, for example, wrapped in fabrics of different colours became a sacred tree like those we see across the country.
While Yoon and Ka-ge were listed as co-directors in both versions of “Something Missing”, the former actually took the lead role in directing last year’s and the latter this year’s. In next year’s collaboration, the last phase, we’ve been informed that the artists will co-direct it. And that’s indeed what we’re looking forward to experiencing. 

MORE BY B-FLOOR&TLAS
- Puppet theatre “Fishy Clouds” will be at Democrazy Theatre Studio on Saturday and Sunday, 
3pm. Free admission Email [email protected].
- From Friday to Sunday, 5 to 9pm at TLAS performance artist Nopawan Sirivejkul curates a mini-festival “Mourning Moments”. Tickets are Bt300 (one day) and Bt600 (all three days), at (095) 924 4555. See Facebook.com/ThongLorArtSpace.