Fun times are in order for children and families during the next Bangkok International Children's Theatre Festival, which will take place from Friday Nov 5 to Nov 14.
Presented entirely in an online format, the "BICT Fest 2021 -- BICT On(line) The Move" will venture outside of Bangkok for the first time to join with the Uttaradit Tid Yim x Ginganbai group in Uttaradit province and Lookwah group in Phetchaburi.
The network is behind this year's theme "A School Of Imagination" that invites kids and their families to join the creative learning activities presented in virtual classrooms from the comfort of their own homes.
The programme will feature seven on-demand performances by Thai and international artists from Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Mexico and Argentina. They can be viewed any time until Nov 30 via bictfest.com.
Noisy Joy uses paper art to tell a story. photos courtesy of BICT FEST
The line-up includes A Fish That Smiled At Me, a 20-minute shadow puppet with music, suitable for children aged three-five years; An Ant, a short stop-motion animated film for the whole family; Dance Craze 2021, a Swiss-Thai collaboration featuring three dance video clips for children aged eight years and above; and The Brave Little One, a short stop-motion animation using an object-led process.
Noisy Joy is storytelling with paper art, Other World On The Move is a 30-minute site-specific contemporary dance featuring a collaboration between a Germany-based Italian artist and a Thai artist while We Belong is a contemporary dance film by a UK-based Japanese artist, made with and for stateless children in Thailand.
Presented live via Zoom will be two interactive performances. Poemário Vivo is a musical show by Companhia de Música Teatral from Portugal. It will be staged twice a day from Friday to Sunday Nov 5-7 at 3.30pm and 5pm. Professor Bimble's Magic Safari is a magic performance and workshop by James Laver from the UK. He will perform on Nov 12 to 14 at 11am.
A Fish That Smiled At Me, a shadow puppet show. BICT
There will also be creative workshops where children will learn to create characters and improvise a story in a terrarium; communicate through body language, movement and drawing; play with lights and shadows and create their own imaginary town; make puppets; tell stories, draw and improvise together; and dance and draw to the sound.
The last three days from Nov 12 to 14 will feature an evening talk with the artists whose works are presented in the festival. All talks will be conducted in English with Thai interpretation.
Visit bictfest.com and facebook.com/bictfest.
