Sloughing off the skin
A gay version of popular Chinese folk tale “Madame White Snake” graces the rooftop of Tadu Contemporary Art
Before Democrazy Studio and Thong Lor Art Space, theatre fans will no doubt recall attending many dance and theatre performances at Tadu Contemporary Art, originally at its RCA premises and then later on Thiam Ruam Mit Road.
I still have fond memories of 8X8 Theatre’s “Krungthep Narak Nachang” and B-Floor’s “GODa Gardener”, two works, which I listed among the top 10 of the 2000s.
The idea of a visual arts venue providing space and time for performing arts, which is rare in this country, can be credited to Tadu’s first director, Luckana Kunavichayanont, who continues this concept now as the director of Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC).
Actor, dancer and artistic director of Sun Dance Theatre, Sun “King” Tawalwongsri, who recently had to bring the curtain down on his venue in Silom, tells XP: “Tadu moved to this new location in the On Nut area several years ago.
“Kuck [award-winning veteran gay performance artist Wannasak Sirilar] and I watched a concert on the rooftop here a few years ago and had a good time. We wondered if it would be possible to stage a theatre performance here.
“Tadu’s exhibition space is full almost all year and recently Crescent Moon Theatre staged a performance there. Tadu’s director Apisak “Jim” Sonjod proposed the idea of staging it on the rooftop in a more informal atmosphere with a mini concert by two indie bands before the play, and so here we are with ‘Asoraphit’ [‘Snakes’].”
Kuck has adapted the Chinese folk tale “Madame White Snake”, with which most Thai people are familiar, into a gay version in which all the performers are male.
“Kuck has been working on this project for a few years now and we’ve been postponing it due to other work commitments. With this deconstruction approach, the relationship between human and non-human characters has become that between straight and gay men, the latter group being frequently considered as monsters.”
The play’s tagline is “If I’m not actually who you think I am, will you still love me?”, and the play itself asks the audience to reconsider Lord Buddha’s teaching “Certainty is never certain” as well as to look at contemporary society and its diversity in terms of race, rank and gender.
Apart from King and Kuck, performers include Kittisak Kerd-arunsuksri and Sanchai Uaesilapa and newcomers like Kittitouch Kaew-outhai and Weerabhat Boonma.
With the high temperatures we’ve been experiencing over the last month, some potential audience members might be turned off by the idea of attending an outdoors performance, but King says, “It’s actually very pleasant and breezy on the ninth floor rooftop: no one complained of the heat last Thursday at our preview. Before the play, you get to eat, drink, listen to music, talk to fellow audience members, musicians and performers and watch the sun go down. It’s a unique theatre-going experience.”
3 NIGHTS ONLY
<“Snakes” will be performed at 7pm from Friday to Sunday at Tadu Contemporary Art, Sukhumvit Soi 87 (BTS: On Nut). Arrive as early as 5.30pm for refreshments and live music. The performance is in Thai.
