Verbal Physical Musical

Last month at the B-Floor Room and the British Club, Nana Dakin and Sasapin Siriwanij of B-Floor Theatre staged “The Giordano Bruno Project”, a collaboration with Bangkok-based Italian Renaissance lutenist Jacopo Gianninoto.
The stage was configured in theatre in the round format with two wooden chairs – one of them for the musician – placed in the middle and straps of white cloth hanging from the ceiling. The three artists’ light-coloured costumes and the live music balancing classical works with new compositions added to the friendlier atmosphere and made for a fine juxtaposition with the work’s serious subject matter. Readings from Bruno’s ideas and thoughts made up the script, spoken occasionally simultaneously in Thai and English, along with a narration of his doomed life towards the end. The audience was further drawn in by the fact that the two Thai performers looked us in the eyes and spoke directly to us. My personal favourite scene was one in which they didn’t speak but moved their limbs to signify the clash between their ideas and beliefs. This was accompanied by Gianninoto’s lute, which sounded amazingly vehement at that moment.
The 45-minute “The Giordano Bruno Project” stimulated my interest in the controversial 17th-century philosopher, though the work was less than fulfilling as it offered little more than an introduction to Bruno as well as to the Renaissance lute. I wish the two Thai artists had gone further in bringing Bruno’s life and works to us in Bangkok, four centuries later and 8,000 kilometres away. I also wish that, given the nature of multi-disciplinary work, Gianninoto had moved out of his comfort zone, and interacted verbally and physically rather than just musically with his Thai co-performers, the way other music and dance collaborations are doing nowadays. Nonetheless, I fell in love with the soothingly beautiful sound of the Renaissance lute and, despite his warning that “It’s boring”, bought Gianninoto’s CD, which worked to calm me down in the Bangkok traffic.
A few days after “Bruno” ended its short run, Silpathorn Award artist Sineenadh Keitprapai staged “Phapluangta Chak Noen Mafueang”, her adaptation of Sri Daorueang’s short story “Phapluangta Khong Kan Plian Sapphanam” and novella “Noen Mafueang” at the Crescent Moon Space next to B-Floor Room.
As the purpose was to celebrate the female wordsmith’s sixth cycle birthday anniversary and fourth decade in contemporary Thai literature, the production was fitting. Many audience members who have never read her works will now do so, as the two playlets revealed that Sri Daorueang has a truly unique point of view, especially now that rail travel is once again part of our lives. However, Sineenadh relied too much on the words, especially in “Phapluangta”, and very frequently the action simply repeated the narration.
The set design, which had the rail track’s wooden replica serving as much more than just d