While Adjjima Na Patalung was an assistant director in the UK at Theatre Rites, an experimental theatre for children, her work experiences there changed her perspective on the art form.
"It was the first time that I realised that children's theatre is complicated. The contents produced by Theatre Rites are various and can be something unexpected. Their creating process is very professional and requires much investment, creativity and capability. This experience made me realise that children's theatre must be produced with the same calibre of professionalism as performing arts for adults and the crew must find a way to communicate and connect with child audiences of different ages," said Adjjima.
Due to her experience with Theatre Rites, Adjjima wanted to create an event that would allow children and parents to enjoy high-quality performing arts in order to enrich children's creativity and expand their understanding of the world. As a result, Bangkok International Children's Theatre Festival (BICT Fest) was launched in 2016 and was arranged as a biennial event. Many international artists perform at BICT Fest and Thai children can understand their mostly nonverbal performances.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, "BICT Fest 2021 – BICT on(line) the Move" returns as a digital edition, running from Friday until Nov 14 at bictfest.com. In collaboration with the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, the Embassy of Portugal, the Embassy of Switzerland, the Goethe-Institut, the Japan Foundation Bangkok, Greenspot and Pichaya Suksa School, viewers can enjoy the festival free of charge.
Eight performances including A Fish That Smiled At Me (Thailand), Dance Craze 2021: A Swiss-Thai Collaboration (Switzerland), Other World On The Move (Germany-Thailand) and We Belong (Japan) will be streamed for convenient viewing at any time and location. The other two performances -- Poemário Vivo (Portugal) and Professor Bimble's Magic Safari (UK-Thailand) -- are live acts and will be accessible via Zoom. Workshops for family such as Terrarium Theatre (terrarium workshop), Long Distance (body language, movement and drawing) and Imaginary Town – Imaginary Journey (shadow puppetry workshop) are family activities also available on Zoom.
Life spoke to Adjjima about the festival and the performing arts impact on children.
Festival director Adjjima Na Patalung. (Photos © BICT Fest)
What are benefits of performing arts for children?
Performing arts enriches children's creativity and is holistic because children will learn other subjects through performing arts such as language, culture and history. Children also learn about their emotions through performing arts. When they watch a play that portrays real life events, they can relate themselves to the characters. If a play portrays something they have no experience or knowledge of, they will learn from it. BICT Fest includes performing arts from other countries, so children will learn of other cultures, become open to diversity and keep up with the world.
How does performing arts help children to develop their problem-solving skills?
Children experience how a character encounters a situation and they can relate to it. They may see how a character overcomes his/her difficulty. For example, in one play, a character did not know what to do and young audiences who felt absorbed in the situation shouted out advice to the character. In schools most lessons are passive, but children's theatre is a space where children can engage and become active participants.
Other World On The Move invites young viewers to look at their classrooms from a different point of view. (Photo: BICT Fest)
Do people in developed countries think performance arts for children is important?
Yes. In Europe, governments support performance arts in the long run, while BICT Fest has to fundraise every year. In Thailand, working in the field of arts is difficult. In Scandinavia, both the government and the opposition agree to bring art into schools. People in Europe support performance arts for children because they know in order to have quality people in the future, children must be developed in all aspects. They do not focus only on academic subjects.
Is there any particular content that is censored for performances at BICT Fest?
Not at all. At BICT Fest, we seek high-quality performances with various content that reflect children's surroundings and that were created through a meticulous and delicate process. We do not censor any content, not even sex or violence. If there is a play involving paedophilia, we must look through how the play presents the content. It is an issue that some children encounter. Some children have been through experiences such as death, accidents, disability or sickness, so we want other children who have not been exposed to these realities to learn about them from watching the performances. The productions at BICT Fest are also universal. Since parents are the ones bringing their children to the theatre, we chose performances that adults can enjoy with their children.
Terrarium Theatre is a workshop that helps children learn about nature. (Photo: BICT Fest)
What is your opinion of Thai stage plays or dramas for children that teach about morality?
They are OK, but we should also present other issues for child audiences. Children's stories teaching morals are fine, but we need stories that young viewers can continually think about it. The stories should not guide what is right or wrong. Children should come to their own conclusion and adults should let them think for themselves and respect their ideas. Children must figure out the meaning of good deeds and morality by themselves.
What does this year's theme, 'A School Of Imagination' mean to you?
Many children have to study online, so we want to stay online with them. 'BICT on(line) the Move' is a creative learning space that is like an extracurricular learning activity at home for them.
A Thai on-demand performance A Fish That Smiled At Me. (Photo: BICT)
Can you tell us about the highlights of BICT Fest -- Dance Craze 2021, Other World On The Move and Terrarium Theatre?
Dance Craze 2021 is our first community project that is a collaboration between Joshua Monten from Switzerland and our network in three provinces -- Bangkok, Phetchaburi and Uttaradit. Monten created the choreography and sent the video to our network, so we could create an online dance flash mob. Facilitators in three provinces adapted the choreography and passed it onto young people. In Bangkok, we have four to 14-year-old dancers, so the facilitator had to figure out how to teach people of different ages and abilities.
Other World On The Move is a site-specific contemporary dance project that was created at Pittayasuksa school. The German artist Alfredo Zinola and Thai artist Kage Mulvilai worked together from survey, experiments and creating visuals. This 30-minute contemporary dance invites young viewers to look at their classrooms in different aspects from what they are familiar with. We are curious to know their feedback.
Terrarium Theatre is a workshop by the Thai artist Boonpong Panich from Cherry Theatre. It is the only workshop where participants have to purchase equipment. It lets children design and experience the ecosystem through art in a terrarium, so they can learn about nature.
Thai animation An Ant. (Photo: BICT)
What was some of the positive feedback you received from participants?
A mother said that BICT Fest is an opportunity to spend quality time with her child who had a good experience. Another mother said she did not enjoy other children's events, but she had fun at BICT Fest and learned something from its activities.
What is your expectation for this year's BICT Fest?
I would like to see many people attend our festival since we cannot have a free show every year. I hope people can see that performing arts can be a creative learning space that accompanies classrooms in schools.
We Belong is a contemporary dance film by a UK-based Japanese artist. (Photo: BICT Fest)
Visit facebook.com/bictfest and bictfest.com for schedules and details.
