Theatregoers have never been this busy. But more importantly, theatre artists are defying censorship and categorisation. Here are my top picks of this year.
Boxes at Democrazy Theatre Studio.
Boxes
The England-based Thai Adjjima Na Patalung presented a devised theatre piece constructed around plain old cardboard boxes. Reminiscent of Kafka's The Trial, except with a much more optimistic ending, the thought-provoking Boxes follows a good-natured man into a land of order and rigid structure. He is open to what this world has to offer, but it soon overwhelms and confines him. A casual trip turns into a self-searching journey where the man is reminded of his childhood freedom and dreams. Adjjima and the cast cleverly used boxes to construct a sterile and stifling world while also creating a sense of wonder and adventure. The piece could be interpreted as a mirror to the soul-depleting corporate culture, but with the country being under the martial law, the restrictive and unimaginative world in Boxes hits close to home.
Hipster The King Thanapol Virulhakul
Another sly and hilarious work by Thanapol Virulhakul, Hipster The King gave us a live construction of propaganda and a cutting critique on the culture of idolatry. Actors stood still in a tableau dressed as iconic figures — from Che Guevara and Aung San Suu Kyi to Steve Jobs and Frida Kahlo — as words projected onto the wall informed the audience that the actors had sacrificed and fought against the tyrant of a director on our behalf. Then came the suggestions on how we the audience could repay them, which elevated into coercion. Like Thanapol's previous creations, Hipster The King placed us in a situation where our perception of and reaction to power are challenged. An intelligent and subversive creation.
In Her View: A Documentary Theatre.
In Her View: A Documentary Theatre New Theatre Society
In Her View is the most straightforward work director Witaya Artamat has ever done. He brought together 15 stage actresses with only six performing each night. They answered questions of both personal and professional varieties from the audience and a guest actor, as well as performed monologues and solo movement pieces based on a set of texts given to them by the director. The performers were given free reign on how they wanted to treat the texts, and it was fascinating how each of them brought such different interpretations to the stories of rape victims, female politicians or ethnic minorities. We saw at play the interaction between the true and the other selves, the public and the private selves, in each actress.
Ngao-Rang (Shade Borders) Crescent Moon Theatre
In the poetic and intimate Ngao-Rang, director Sineenadh Keitprapai, who went through a mastectomy, found strength, solace and voice in the works of visual artist Pinaree Sanpitak, best known for her breast-shaped sculptures. The Silpathorn artist also shared the stage and her stories with other female performers, who openly spoke about their bodies — the parts they loved, the parts they had come to accept, the parts they disliked — and their internal selves. Together, they weaved a collective history the female emotional and physical experiences. In a society where there is little discussion about the body and boundaries, Ngao-Rang felt refreshing and necessary.
Satapana (Establishment) B-Floor Theatre
In both instalments of this physical-theatre production, Red Tank and Iceberg, Teerawat "Kage" Mulvilai unflinchingly portrayed the brutality of state suppression and erasure of dissenting voices. In the times where violence are being swept under the rug and cries of victims stifled, it is an act of courage to show images of these cruelties onstage. Teerawat is never crass or exploitative in his presentation of violence. And it was revealing of our collective psyche when the sight of a block of ice being pierced and hacked to pieces and the image of red paint being wiped clean from a white table felt like a brutal violation against the human body and dignity.
