• dance_and_theatre
  • ranking : General member
  • email : pompawit@gmail.com
  • created : 2007-12-23
  • entry : 247
  • visitors : 98213
  • votes : 39
  • send msg :
Dance and Theatre
Previews, Interviews, and Reviews (yes, and Photos) of Dance and Theatre in Thailand (well, and elsewhere) written by "The Nation" dance and theatre critics
Permalink : http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/danceandtheatre
Wednesday , December 31 , 2008
STEPPING into JAPAN
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 1381 , 00:43:01   | Category : Dance 2008   Theatre 2008   Bangkok Festivals 2008  
Print

Bangkok theatregoers moved to the graceful rhythms of Kabuki this month, then met the modern madness of Butoh.The Japan Foundation Bangkok in co-operation with the National Discovery Museum Institute hosted the “Kabuki Demonstration and Nishiki-e Exhibition” at Museum Siam. And for a few hundred audiences who were quick enough to call the organizers and book their free tickets for the afternoon and e....


read more

Sunday , December 21 , 2008
THEATRE in a time of TROUBLE
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 1039 , 10:57:07   | Category : Dance 2008   Theatre 2008   Bangkok Festivals 2008  
Print

While thousands of audiences enjoyed a wide-variety of outdoors free-admission theatrical performances at Santi Chaiprakarn Park, officially the hub of Bangkok Theatre Festival 2008, the attendance at other venues, city-wide, was pretty disappointing. On the festival’s opening day (November 22), the number of audiences at Naked Masks Playhouse, a new small venue at Phyathai Plaza, was even less than ....


read more

Saturday , December 20 , 2008
Lost in the human ZOO
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 837 , 10:53:39   | Category : Theatre 2008  
Print

 The Bangkok Theatre Festival has ended, but the lights are still on until teh year's last weekend at the Makhampom Studio. On a sunny day, Peter, a middle-class publishing executive in his early 40s, is reading peacefully on a bench at Central Park when Jerry, an isolated, disheartened, and weary man in his late 30s, shows up. Probably also mentally ill, Jerry is desperate to have a meaningful conve....


read more

CINDERELLA is one slipper short
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 1374 , 10:12:13   | Category : Theatre 2008  
Print

 Broadway Asia's “Cinderella” is strictly for kids—and die-hard fans of Lea Salonga.The posters for "Cinderella" carry the Asian Broadway star's name as big as the play's title, even bigger than "Rodgers and Hammerstein", the songwriting dream team who gave the show its music for a live TV broadcast starring Julie Andrews. It was understandably one of their least successful effort....


read more

Sunday , December 14 , 2008
let FREEDOM ring
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 904 , 01:36:50   | Category : Theatre 2008   Bangkok Festivals 2008  
Print

Makhampom ends a prolific year with a musical homage to the inspring writer/journalist/ political activist Sriburapha.More than a hundred years ago Siamese theatre artists adapted the Western-style opera to new forms of homegrown theatre, including lakorn rong. From the royal palace, where it was cultivated by Prince Narathipprapanpong, lakorn rong evolved into a popular entertainment at playhouses l....


read more

Saturday , December 13 , 2008
Giving back to SANTA
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 857 , 11:12:08   | Category : Theatre 2008   Bangkok Festivals 2008  
Print

The sequel to "Christmas Story" puts a lovely spin on the season this weekend. Last December, Aa Theatre, led by Japan-born and Thailand-bred Shoko Tanikawa, presented their first production “Christmas Story”. The engaging drama was set at a park on Christmas Eve when a mysterious Japanese man named Santa Claus (Shoko) was waiting for a woman named Marilyn Monroe whom he met on the internet....


read more

Monday , December 8 , 2008
BUTOH: LIVE (plus photographed) in Bangkok
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 1210 , 09:31:34   | Category : Dance 2008   Theatre 2008   Bangkok Festivals 2008  
Print

Two arts centres in Bangkok play host to Butoh masters this month. Butoh, a contemporary theatrical performance art originated in post-Hiroshima Japan born out of despair and confusion and hence the nickname “dance of darkness”, has come a long way. Since its beginning in 1959, this amalgam of dance, theatre, and improvisation with influences from traditional Japanese dance theatre and German Express....


read more

Friday , December 5 , 2008
KABUKI: LIVE (plus engraved) in Bangkok
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 1204 , 11:53:47   | Category : Dance 2008   Theatre 2008  
Print

The Japan Foundation, Bangkok teams up with the National Discovery Museum Institute, or Museum Siam, in presenting a unique visual arts and theatre event "Kabuki Demonstration and Nishiki-e Exhibition".Featuring stars of Kabuki today, this 90-minute programme starts with Sanbasou("Mai" Dance) by Mr. Bando Kotoji, followed by "What is Kabuki?", a lecture by Ms. Yoshiko Ta....


read more

SUNFLOWER: sowing seeds
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 933 , 11:25:25   | Category : Theatre 2008   Bangkok Festivals 2008  
Print

"Sunflower" ploughs plenty of laughs from its tales of modern love, but plants some deep thoughts on relationships too. When Nophand Boonyai premiered his first play, a comedy/ drama about modern relationship titled “Dokmai Nai Saengdad” (“Sunflower”) back in January, Weekend was among the first media to interview him. Then, many theatergoers were still wondering who he was and what kind of....


read more

Wednesday , December 3 , 2008
RENDEZVOUS with my ALTER
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 876 , 15:22:39   | Category : Dance 2008   Theatre 2008  
Print

“Rendezvous with My ALTER…Come Dance with Us” is a new English-language musical play about an aspiring dancer whose look doesn’t fit in with the norm of the dance world, and featuring the multinational cast of six actors and eight dancers.“The story is not from real life although it could be,” says playwright and director Sunaina Gulati. “It is perhaps sub-consciously influenced from my interactions ....


read more

Monday , December 1 , 2008
BLOOD on the BOARDS
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 911 , 10:33:47   | Category : Theatre 2008  
Print

Last month, Bangkok's theatre fans were wondering where to put their money in a two-horse race. Both of the weeend runners were English-language contemporary classics—NUNi Productions’ “The Threepenny Opera” at Thailand Cultural Centre’s Small Hall and Bangkok Community Theatre (BCT)’s “Deathtrap” at MIFA Auditorium. This reviewer placed an each-way bet, watching one on Friday and the other on Saturd....


read more

VENUS rises again
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 869 , 10:11:21   | Category : Dance 2008   Theatre 2008   Bangkok Festivals 2008  
Print

Five years on, the social issues explored in "Venus Party" remain unresolved. Sineenadh Keitprapai, actress, playwright, director and artistic director of Crescent Moon Theatre, is the latest recipient of Ministry of Culture’s Silpathorn Award in performing arts—and the first woman. It’s quite fitting then that Bangkok Theatre Festival 2008 will next week revive one of her most critically a....


read more

Saturday , November 22 , 2008
Thai ARMS AND THE MAN kicks off Bangkok Theatre Festival TODAY
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 933 , 10:17:10   | Category : Theatre 2008   Bangkok Festivals 2008  
Print

One of the most acclaimed plays ever to appear at the Montienthong Theatre was "Chart Chai Nai Thong Mee", Suphon Vichienchai and Thanawadee Sathityudhakarn's ingenious adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's "Arms and the Man". Now the New Theatre Society is revisiting Shaw's work, with "Maha Burut Ayutthaya" adding to the allure of the Bangkok Theatre Festival. Director Da....


read more

THAI OPERA: The Story of LONG-GONE ANIMALS
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 924 , 10:08:06   | Category : Theatre 2008   Bangkok Festivals 2008  
Print

'The Story of LongGone Animals' tells of a suicidal Bangkok teen, whose joy is musically resurrected through magical encounters with extinct creatures.Husband and wife team Krissada and Napisi Reyes have corralled decades of experience in music and children's theatre into the three-act opera "The Story of Long-Gone Animals", which gets its world premiere on November 21. "We've been ins....


read more

Friday , November 14 , 2008
DHARMA in the DANCE
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 1029 , 23:34:25   | Category : Dance 2008   Theatre 2008  
Print

 Komonlagoon’s Thai contemporary dance aims to prove that Buddhist teachings are more relevant to us than we’ve ever thought. “Whenever someone speak of Buddhist teachings their friends would say something like, ‘You should enter monkhood’ and I wonder whether Dharma is really that remote from our way of living today,” says choreographer and director Thongchai Hannarong of his inspiration to stage “T....


read more

watching WORLDS COLLIDE
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 845 , 22:17:42   | Category : Dance 2008   Theatre 2008   Melbourne, October 2008  
Print

 Most dance and theatre audiences seem to prefer the classics to the avant garde and that’s probably why “Swan Lake” and Shakespeare plays are included in many regular season programs of dance and theatre companies around the world—and of course nothing’s wrong with that because seats need to be filled.Nevertheless, when it’s time for international arts festivals, organizers look to present some genr....


read more

Wednesday , November 12 , 2008
swing 'SHIFT'
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 865 , 06:34:46   | Category : Dance 2008   Theatre 2008   da:ns 2008, Esplanade  
Print

Singapore’s “da:ns” festival lets Asian companies “stretch” and “challenge”. Apart from celebrating the gathering of the world’s renowned dance companies from Europe in its “Centrestage” series, dancemakers from Singapore and the region were given chances to demonstrate their creativity and prove their artistic expertise in the “Shift” series of the “da:ns 2008” festival at the Esplanade. Kuik Swee B....


read more

Sunday , November 9 , 2008
The OLD MAID gets wed
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 797 , 07:28:43   | Category : Theatre 2008  
Print

The much-awaited sequel to one of the most successful stage comedies is ready to roll out some fresh hysterics. When “Tuen Tuek” (“Old Maids”) made its debut at AUA Auditorium 16 years ago, it was a theatrical phenomenon. The 20 performances were sold out. The audiences warmly welcomed this remarkable Thai comedy. The masterpiece of playwriting balances colorful characters—like a self-centred editor ....


read more

Friday , November 7 , 2008
all the CITY is a STAGE
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 1154 , 10:49:24   | Category : Dance 2008   Theatre 2008   Bangkok Festivals 2008  
Print

 Recently, you may have already found a bi-lingual free newsletter titled “Theatre Sparks Life” at your favorite coffee shop. Quite obviously, the organizing team for the year’s largest showcase of Thai theatre—traditional and modern, conventional and experimental, new works and revivals—is more prepared than ever. Well, the program schedule is also announced. It seems like the last piece of this spa....


read more

Tuesday , November 4 , 2008
among the BEST of EUROPE
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 1087 , 23:40:01   | Category : Dance 2008   Theatre 2008   da:ns 2008, Esplanade  
Print

 Of all the programmes in Singapore’s “da:ns 2008” festival, the two highlights dance aficionados had been awaiting most eagerly for were undeniably the Russian Ballet Gala and a double bill by one the world’s most acclaimed companies, the Nederlands Dans Theater I (NDT1). Bringing the classical finesse to the sold-out crowd at the Esplanade Theatre first were the five couples from the two ballet pow....


read more

Sunday , November 2 , 2008
CHATTING and DANCING across cultures
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 1026 , 23:14:10   | Category : Dance 2008   Theatre 2008   da:ns 2008, Esplanade  
Print

Evidently, dance dialogue—in which skillful dancers, frequently from different backgrounds, not only create new physical movements together, but also talk to each other, and to us the audience—has become a hot trend in international performing arts. This is probably not because the dancers want to move their limbs less and their jaws more. Rather, there are more secrets and stories, both behind the m....


read more

Friday , October 31 , 2008
caught in a DEATHTRAP!
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 747 , 09:15:21   | Category : Theatre 2008  
Print

Bangkok Community Theatre’s last production of the year promises to kill us with its deadly comic timing. American playwright Ira Levin’s masterpiece “Deathtrap” involves Sidney, a thriller writer who’s running out of ideas. When his protégé Clifford submits a far better script, he jokes with his wife Myra that he should kill Clifford and steal the plot. In his Connecticut living room, ....


read more

Wednesday , October 29 , 2008
The Woman in Black: ACTING tour de FRIGHT
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 881 , 13:12:30   | Category : Theatre 2008  
Print

Thrills and chills may not be abundant, but stellar performance brings much suspense and meaning to a ghost play. It’s Halloween weekend, and Dreambox’s revival of the Thai translation of popular British horror play is packed with enough tricks for this two-hander to bring our two hands together at the curtain call. One of the longest running plays in the history of London’s West End, “The Woman in B....


read more

Friday , October 24 , 2008
CRACKED in the LAND
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 779 , 22:27:01   | Category : Theatre 2008  
Print

 B-Floor Theatre’s new stage work reflects pours lights into the fissures in Thai society. Inspired by the late Kanokpong Songsomphan’s 1996 S.E.A. Write winning collection of short stories of the same title, B-Floor Theatre’s engaging work “The Other Land” (or in Thai “Phaendin Uen”) cannot be timelier. Though they are more than 12 years old now, these tales of social conflict in the three troubled ....


read more

Wednesday , October 22 , 2008
Are you ELIGIBLE for any CONCESSION?
Posted by dance_and_theatre , Reader : 864 , 01:36:03   | Category : Dance 2008   Theatre 2008   da:ns 2008, Esplanade   Melbourne, October 2008  
Print

 "Are you eligible for any concession?”, the box office person at Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre asked me on the phone last Monday morning when I was purchasing a ticket to watch a play, whose allocation for media tickets had run out.  Admittedly, I was stunned. Usually, it’s the other way around: we audiences have to ask—or, in many cases, beg for discounts, and, in some cases, drink a certain b....


read more


/4