Dancers dazzled before a full-house audience at the opening of the 19th Festival of Dance and Music at the Thailand Cultural Centre.

They performed the classical ballet Katya and the Prince of Siam.

VIPs witnessed the grandeur of Russian and Thai royal settings in stunning stage displays and choreography from the Ekaterinburg Ballet and Opera Theatre.

It’s the story of a Thai King’s adolescent son who is educated at St Petersburg under the patronage of Emperor Nicholas.

The prince travelled on the Trans-Siberian Express to begin his education.

In St Petersburg, he waltzed with Katya and fell in love.

But they were separated when she went to the war front as a nurse.

When she returned they get married. But she is not accepted in Thailand.

However, the Queen teaches her Thai classical dance and Thais, including the King, eventually embrace her.

The Russian series at the 19th Festival of Dance and Music continues with a performance of Cinderella on Wednesday, Spartacus on Friday and Le Corsaire on Sunday.

For a full list of all 13 international programs up until October 18, go to http://www.bangkokfestivals.com. (The Nation is the festival’s media partner.

 Among the joys of watching contemporary dance works these days is the fact it’s impossible to predict what you’re going to see. As countries become better connected, various traditions and practices meet and blend. Meanwhile, the subject matters being explored vary tremendously. However, as most of the time, choreographers do not only create movements for their dancers but also work as directors and put other elements into their performances, all too frequently good choreography doesn’t guarantee a good production. Three premieres at the recent Festival Montpellier Danse illustrated this point.

In “Tapis Rouge”, by Ivory Coast-born and France-based choreographer Nadia Beugre and French composer Sebastian Martel, we saw what actually lies beneath the glitz and glam of the “red carpet” that seems to fascinate so much. Inspired by her experience observing women and children mine workers in Burkina Farso, Beugre used plenty of soil in this performance, which also featured the active participation of her sound designer and stage manager.

Europe-based Brazilian choreographer Marcelo Evelin’s “Danca Doente” (“Sick Dance”) and his company Demolition Incorporada attempted to show how the world has affected us and led to “tired, fragile and suffering bodies”. It’s a genuine idea that’s worth trying but didn’t result in an engaging performance, as the nine performers had various degrees of understanding of his concept, which was inspired by butoh pioneer Hijikata Tatsumi.

The two works also suffered from a similar setback –many set pieces, props and music – and how these accompanied the performer was occasionally so in disarray that they took the focus away from the messages the choreographer/directors wanted to convey.

Noticeably, both Beugre and Evelin were also on stage performing, and even with the help of dramaturgs, they probably wouldn’t have the same view as that of their audience.

In “Flood”, US-born, Belgium-based Daniel Linehan and his company Hiatus attempted less yet achieved more. Described as “a choreography of appearances and disappearances”, four dancers, whose costumes looked like a blend of traditional fabric and electrical circuits, repeated their movement sequences in increasingly shorter periods, the time marked by an electronic beep sound and lighting change. This simple concept made for an entertaining and arresting performance that made the audience look carefully at the differences between the segments and reflect on how we’re increasingly dominated by the speed of modern technology.

Festival d’Automne in Paris will present “Dance Doente” in October and “Tapis Rouge” in December. The former can also be seen at Kyoto Experiment in November. “Flood” is in Luxembourg next month.

The writer’s trip was supported by Festival Montpellier Danse’s press office. Special thanks to Maiwenn Rebours and Natalia Matus

 For more information, visit http://www.MontpellierDanse.com, http://www.demolitionIncorporada.com and http://www.Hia-tus.org.

With almost three quarters of 2017 now behind us, I know I wouldn’t be the only person voting for Splashing Theatre Company to be given the “theatre troupe of the year” award if such a prize existed. This is not based solely on the company’s diligence, though. Its latest work “Teenage Wasteland: Summer, Star and the (Lost) Chrysanthemum”, which ended its two-week run at Creative Industries on Sunday, was its third production of the year after “Thou Shalt Sing” at Crescent Moon Space and “Chrono o’ Clock” at Syrup the Space.

Many other theatre companies, whose core members are much older than those of Splashing Theatre, rely on certain formulae in creating works, claiming that they don’t want to disappoint their fans. By contrast, Splashing Theatre, which already proved by inviting its peers from other groups to create new works for “Chrono o’ Clock”, that it’s not easily satisfied and more than willing to take artistic risks.

Like the troupe’s previous works, “Teenage Wasteland” had a film-like episodic structure and was inspired by and adapted from works in other media – namely Stephen King’s “It” and “The Body” and Japanese manga “Mobile Suit Gundum” and “Neon Genesis Evangelion”. That said, the story focused mainly on the life and work of the late writer and political activist Chit Phumisak.

Thanaphon Accawatanyu’s script ambitiously switched back and forth between a galactic war in the far future, real-life incidents in Chit’s past and the making of a film documentary about him in the present. And while the former seemed somewhat distant from the other two at first, the audience soon realised that conflicts would always remain but that this should never prevent us from promoting differences. In short, reconciliation was not a keyword here.

The troupe’s largest production to date, the 14-member cast comprised not only Splashing members but also their peers from other groups plus such seasoned thespians as Sumontha Suanpholrat and Passakorn Intoo-marn. And herein lay a slight setback. More familiar with a smaller venue and highly naturalistic style of acting, Splashing Theatre members were upstaged by the others. The two directors Thongchai Pimapansri and Thanaphon himself were probably so busy with honing the script and putting other production elements together that they didn’t have time to balance the acting styles.

I was informed at the box office that the play would run for more than two hours without an intermission. A dash to a nearby cafe took care of my tiredness from driving through evening traffic but it wasn’t the caffeine that kept me awake and alert. Credit for that must go to the script, acting and direction, as well as the art direction by Sompak Ounthapan, who clearly knew how to work efficiently and elegantly with limited means in a small space. Tawit Keitprapai’s lighting design also helped differentiate the three main storylines.

Driving home that evening, I thought about a current piece of hot news concerning a young political activist university student and what eventually happened to Chit more than half a century ago. Evidently, our understanding and respect for freedom of speech in this long build-up to democracy hasn’t really progressed much.

In the meantime, the word is that a post-graduate student on the same campus is working on his thesis production, a musical adaptation of Chit’s life and works. Fingers are being crossed in the hope that the work will be presented to the public without censorship from any authority.

The audience is now looking forward to what Splashing Theatre Company will be offering for the upcoming Bangkok Theatre Festival this November. And while on some campuses in this supposedly democratic country, “tradition” is being used to rob young minds of freedom of speech, nothing seems to be holding these young artists’ down.

 Watch out for the next moves at http://www.facebook.com/SplashingTheatre.

It doesn’t matter to Princess Norodom Buppha Devi, director of the Cambodian Royal Ballet, if she’s performing in a rehearsal hall, the Royal Palace or on the international stage.

“For me it’s training,” she says. “In the palace, outside, in the forest or in the mountains, or in France or China – the stage is always the same to me.”

For the sake of the centuries-old ballet’s survival, she hopes her dancers share a similar passion, she says.

“Once I’m on the stage I become a dancer, quite simply a dancer.”

While Buppha Devi has not danced since 1991, she’s taken the lead in reviving the Royal Ballet, all but destroyed during the Khmer Rouge regime.

Prima ballerina Chap Chamroeun Tola warms up before the Cambodian Royal Ballet makes its Hong Kong debut. /The Phnom Penh Post

She’s taken the troupe to New York, France, China, India and across Southeast Asia. In fact the ballet seems to have a better footing overseas than at home, where the arts often take a back seat in public life.

For prima ballerina Chap Chamroeun Tola, 30, that’s a bittersweet reality. “There’s a stage for us outside of Cambodia more than inside,” she says.

Regardless, the ballet provides a unique opportunity for its dancers to see the world and be recognised at the very least for their lifetime commitment, with many starting as young as five or six years old under the princess’ tutelage.

Buppha Devi is “like a mother to me”, says Tola, who in 2010 danced a lead in “Apsara Mera”, one of the princess’ most celebrated compositions.

Tola prefers portraying battles in dance, such as fighting with a giant, to feigning romance opposite a prince character (always performed by a woman). “I was a tomboy when I was a kid,” she laughs.

The giant is one of four central characters in Khmer classical ballet, along with the male and female leads and a monkey. Scenes are drawn from folklore, myths and, most often, the Reamker – the Cambodian version of the Indian Hindu epic the Ramayana.

“Expressing love, that’s not really my type, but I have to do it,” Tola says.

Makeup artist Van Sak Som prepares Van Votey for the stage./The Phnom Penh Post

Buppha Devi had Tola and her partner playing the prince stare at each other until their awkwardness disappeared, she says. They had to remain motionless and do nothing more than smile until they began to feel love. “It’s a must that the dancers understand what they feel inside in order to show it through their gestures,” Buppha Devi explains.

Rehearsals are held at her apartment in Phnom Penh. The Secondary School of Fine Arts is too remote for convenience and, anyway, everyone feels more comfortable at her place. “It’s like a family,” the princess says.

For the company’s recent debut in Hong Kong, Khon “Mo” Chansithyka, 26, and his brother Khon “Nan” Chansina, 24, played the monkey and giant, respectively, in a sequence of a lakhon khol masked dance. It was only their second performance with the Royal Ballet and marked their international debut.

The day before the show, Proeung Chhieng, 67, the company’s technical director and a lakhon khol professor at the Royal University of Fine Arts, was giving them a last-minute master class in how to make their fight more compelling.

“We act, but it’s real,” Mo said. “When we’re fighting, we’re really trying to stop each other, and that energy has to come out of our hands.”

Out of an incoming class of 70 to 80 students at the Secondary School of Fine Arts, perhaps a 10th go on to the Royal University, of whom a handful are selected for the Royal Ballet.

“The other teachers tell us ‘do this, do that’, but the princess explains,” said 23-year-old Sok Nalys, who played the prince in Hong Kong opposite Tola. “She speaks gently to us and she makes us feel confident.”

Saun Serei performs at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. /The Phnom Penh Post

What’s more, Nalys says, she gives the dancers a certain “freedom” within the confines of classical dance because she pushes the boundaries of tradition. “She dares to change the things we did in the past.”

Chhieng was eight years old when he joined the ballet and only nine when he first danced abroad, in Egypt and Yugoslavia, accompanying state visits. Like the few other surviving masters of his generation in the princess’ entourage, he essentially grew up in the Royal Palace.

“In 1967 I became a dance teacher,” he says, “and after the coup d’etat in 1973 I joined Queen Kossamak in Peking [Beijing] to study there – she asked me if I wanted to study stage lighting in China.”

China’s Cultural Revolution interrupted those plans, so he transferred to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. “The government there didn’t allow foreigners to study lighting, so I learned choreography instead,” Chhieng says.

He returned to Cambodia in 1979 and soon took up teaching in Phnom Penh, but it wasn’t until 1991, when King Norodom Sihanouk and Princess Norodom Buppha Devi returned for good, that he again became part of the reformed Royal Ballet.

“The former dancers who survived and our new dancers organised one night to welcome the king home, and that was the princess’ last dance,” he recalls.

Dancers commit their lives to the craft and are meagrely rewarded. Many quit along the way, some because of social pressures. They typically hold day jobs as civil servants.

But whereas the company formerly performed overseas on travels with the head of state, foreign tours are no longer sponsored by the state.

As dancers they’re paid about US$200 (Bt6,600) per month, plus anywhere from $30 to $70 per performance. As the princess notes, “It’s always difficult.”

“It’s complicated with the government,” says Tola of the lack of public financial support for the ballet. “Sometimes I have no words.

“When you want the arts to live, but not the dancers to live, then what’s wrong? We need a solution to protect artists.” For her part, she’s educating the public through Facebook, where she has 52,000 followers.

Buppha Devi is now in her mid-70s and the question is whether her successor – who will for the first time be someone from outside the royal family – will have the same level of dedication.

Buppha Devi’s maternal grandmother, Queen Sisowath Kossamak, is widely credited with restoring the ballet from a state of decay near the turn of the century, reinventing and readapting pieces.

“It was absolutely natural that I became one of the dancers because it’s always been the royal family that has managed it,” the princess says. She would start each day in the rehearsal rooms of the palace.

“It’s difficult to predict what the future will bring,” she says, but she’s optimistic.

When Buppha Devi could not dance during the Pol Pot regime, she taught children in the refugee camps on the Thai border “to give them a little bit of hope, or joie de vivre”.

“Surely, there will be someone. I will not live one hundred years!” she laughs.

HIS MAJESTY the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej was always seen with a camera – in his younger years travelling around the country and in his old age making public appearances in a wheelchair at Siriraj Hospital. But what was inside the camera?

The Bangkok Art and Culture Centre exposes the rolls of royal film in the exhibition “Through the Lens of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej”, continuing through January 7.

It features 200 photographs taken by the beloved monarch through much of his 70-year reign, and many have never before been publicly displayed.

The third and final exhibition in the “Supreme Artist” series, the show is organised by the Royal Photographic Society of Thailand.

His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej captured his own shadow at Klai Kangwon Palace in Hua Hin in 2000.

It covers three periods, starting in 1955 with images mainly of the royal family. In the middle period he used photography in planning projects to help the country develop. And the final set includes portraits of his pet dogs and the Hua Hin landscape, made towards the end of his reign while he was staying at Klai Kangwon Palace.

The exhibition’s curator, noted photographer Nitikorn Kraivixian, says it was Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s idea to do a show because there were so many of her father’s photos that had never been seen in public.

And there hadn’t been an exhibition of the late King’s photos in about 25 years, he noted.

“From the 600 pictures for which I had permission to use, I selected 200 that were really outstanding and seldom seen. We digitally scanned and reprinted them for this show.”

The exibition opens with mostly black-and-white photographs dating to 1955, the year Princess Sirindhorn was born. His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn was then the three-year-old Prince. It’s a thrill to see a rare shot of the Princess in her baby crib, with her brother attempting to lull her to sleep. There are also moving portraits of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit and her children that reflect the warm relationships within the family.

The future King Maha Vajiralongkorn at age three tries to lull his baby sister, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, to sleep in her crib in 1955

“His family portraits show really just a simple family,” Nitikorn points out. “My favourite is the picture of the Queen and her four children riding a train in 1961. The composition is perfect and there’s a warm feeling to it. It’s a joy to see them all so young and cheerful.”

The late monarch abided by his mother’s principle. “Not noble by birth, yet noble by deeds,” Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother, revered as Somdej Ya, would say. He took a picture of her aboard a ship with then-prime minister Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram and his wife, Thanpuying La-iad.

His Majesty was a self-taught photographer, so the depth of talent on display is remarkable.

Her Majesty Queen Sirikit rides a train with her children in 1961.

“I think he inherited his passion for photography from his mother, who was always snapping pictures of her children,” Nitikorn says. “Somdej Ya gave him a tiny box camera when he was just a child and photography became a lifelong interest. His Majesty learned how to develop the film and print and enlarge photos, in colour as well as black and white. He even set up his own dark room.”

The late King’s portraits of the Queen capture her natural beauty and elegance, whether casually attired or in glamorous embellished gowns. One stunning set from the 1970s has her in various poses amid the flower gardens at Bhubing Palace in Chiang Mai.

A set of photos from the 1970s shows Her Majesty in the gardens of Bhubing Palace in Chiang Mai.

“Her Majesty is a style legend,” notes Nitikorn. “She’s always well groomed, confident and glamorous. Many women adopted her hairstyles and fashion sense.”

Starting in 1970, His Majesty took photos from his car and from a helicopter during trips around the country, a time when he planned more than 4,000 sustainable-development projects. He referred to the routes taken across rough terrain as “disco roads” because of the shaking and bouncing he endured.

There isn’t the slightest blur to the photos he took, though – the deforested hills, swaths of infertile soil and parched streams are all too clear, the challenges in sharp focus. These were the problems he set out to fix.

Starting in 1970, the late monarch used photography in planning projects to help the country develop.

“Many pictures illustrate his interest in water management, which led to his irrigation projects to mitigate drought and flooding,” Nitikorn says. “He gathered in-depth information wherever he went, so he clearly understood people’s needs, and that made his initiatives successful.”

King Bhumibol was interested in irrigation from a young age. His elder sister, Her Royal Highness the late Princess Galyani Vadhana, wrote in her memoir “Jao Nai Leklek, Yuwakasat” (“The Small Kings”) that, as a child, Prince Bhumibol would dig canals and build dams in the garden.

Starting in 1970, the late monarch used photography in planning projects to help the country develop.

He went on to study science and engineering at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. On becoming King in 1946, he switched to politics and law, but never lost interest in water management, a fact that benefited his country considerably during his reign.

His Majesty also had a deep understanding of Buddhist principles and often held lengthy discussions with revered monks, four of whom are pictured in the exhibition – His Holiness Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara (the 19th Supreme Patriarch), Luang Pu Waen Sucinno, Luang Pu Khao Analayo and Luang Pu Tes Tesrangsi.

Nitikorn gestures to four other remarkable photos, in which the late King captured his own shadow.

“I’ve used one of them to promote this exhibition. It perfectly illustrates his unique character, even though it’s just a shadow of him.”

His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej captured his own shadow at Klai Kangwon Palace in Hua Hin in 2000.

The images from the latter part of His Majesty’s reign were mostly taken at Klai Kangwon Palace in Hua Hin and at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok. His pet dog Khun Tongdaeng and her offspring were favourite subjects.

“There are a lot of pictures of Khun Tongdaeng in various poses that will make people smile,” Nitikorn says. “It’s obvious she was his best-loved pet.”

His Majesty’s favourite pet dog, Khun Tongdaeng, had her own identity card.

One photo shows Khun Tongdaeng in 1998 just as the King was adopting her during a visit to the Medical Development Clinic in Bangkok, which had rescued a stray dog’s litter.

He named her Tongdaeng for her copper-coloured hide and in 2002 penned a heartfelt book about her attributes. Praising her loyalty and obedience, the King memorably deemed her a “common dog who is uncommon”. Khun Tongdaeng was 17 when she died in 2015.

Khun Tongdaeng and her offspring

His Majesty also took photos of the insects, birds and flowers of Klai Kangwon Palace. And, while undergoing lengthy treatment at Siriraj Hospital, he snapped pictures from his window of people gathered outside wearing yellow T-shirts in his honour. There are also images of a royal barge procession on the Chao Phraya River and the fireworks display that welcomed New Year 2008.

A picture snapped from his window at Siriraj Hospital in 2007

Another segment of “The Supreme Artist” series continues on the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre’s eighth floor, “Remembrance of the Great King” – painted and drawn portraits of the late monarch and another 1,000 rare photographs. That exhibition runs until November 26.

On the seventh floor is “Earth Water Forest Air: The Royal Inspiration”, featuring 90 works by 45 artists inspired by the late King’s royal projects. That ends on November 12.

A LIFE IN FOCUS

“Through the Lens of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej” continues until January 7 on the ninth floor of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.

The centre is open daily except Monday from 10am to 9pm. It’s at the Pathumwan intersection opposite MBK mall, near the National Stadium BTS station.

Get more details at (02) 214 6630-8 and http://www.BACC.or.th.

The show, which continues through October 28, features 15 pieces from his years of creative production, running from 2001 and 2014, and offers a vivid taste of the artist’s disquieting ability to fill the world with invisible watching eyes.

They include the black & white series, “Haunted School” (2001-2002), which focuses on a school building at night, empty of students, and the bright clean series, “Institutional Care” (2005-2007), in which a newborn child lies by itself in a basin under ultraviolet lamplight. The simple angle and composition suggest that the baby is being watched by someone or something from a distance. In another photo, a fresh new bouquet of flowers has been left on the floor outside a hospital room.

In “Seascape” (2014), taken at the Cambodian seaside, a giant painted plaster crab with the legend “Welcome to Kep” seems to clack its claws in homage to the noon sun, yet the sea, normally full of waves, is smooth and unmoving.

Chong, 40, graduated with an MA in International Contemporary Art and Design Practice from the University of East London and a BA (Hons) in Photography from London College of Printing. Besides his production of photographic work, Chong is highly engaged with the Malaysian photographic community, taking on the role of mentor for the Goethe Institut Malaysia’s Nikon Shooting Stars programme and Exposure+ Workshop.

His work can also be viewed on http://www.EiffelChong.com.

Lie presents a collection of black-and-white images that capture the world of sak yan, the Thai tradition of hand-tattooing ink designs on the body for spiritual purposes. She spent nearly a year studying sak yan, enjoying extended periods inside Thailand’s relatively guarded khru sak (tattoo master) community, living amongst them and attending such special ceremonies as the annual wai khru, in which disciples pay homage to masters past and present.

For his part, award-wining artist Jirasak presents a series of paintings that reflect the philosophy and beliefs in Buddhism in terms of how they relate to the “Three Wise Monkeys.:

His works refer to similar ideas in Buddhism, specifically the Buddha’s practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing the individual from suffering, attachments and delusion, which finally leads to understanding the truth about all things.

Find out more at (02) 126 9999 or visit http://www.Sofitel-Bangkok-Sukhumvit.com.

This is the third in a series of exhibitions “In Remembrance of HM King Bhumibol: The Supreme Artist” paying tribute to the late monarch and his genius in art. Curated by Nitikorn Kraivixian, the exhibition is divided into three periods.

During the early of his reign, the monarch mostly photographed his family members and these portraits are displayed in the first zone. The second focuses on the photographs he took during his trips around the country as he worked to improve the lives of his people and put them on the path to self-sufficiency and independence. The last zone showcases a series of photos he took towards the end of his reign when he mostly stayed at Klai Kangwon Palace in Hua Hin. Many of them are pictures of his pet dogs and the surrounding landscape.

The centre is open daily except Monday from 10am to 9pm. It’s at the Pathumwan intersection, opposite MBK mall, a short walk from BTS: National Stadium station).

Call (02) 214 6630-8 or visit http://www.BACC.or.th.

This is his fourth exhibition but only his second featuring paintings and his latest collection explores spirituality, shamanism and the mysteries of the mind.

“I have definitely been influenced by the primitive and tribal art I collect as a hobby,” Stephff explains. “This exhibition doesn’t have really a specific story— many paintings are different – because I like to experiment with new graphism all the time so sometimes I end up doing only one single painting in a particular style and that’s it.”

The highlight of the exhibition is also his most controversial piece “Buddha from another Galaxy”, for which Stephff imagined another holy being on another planet reaching enlightenment.

“It is still very respectful and it embraces the essence of Buddhism. But it breaks the codes of representation,” he explains.

Those attending the opening party, which gets underway at 6.30 on Thursday, could go home with an original Stephff artwork, as he will be giving away 30 artworks that he doesn’t like anymore (some already framed ) in a lucky draw that is slated to start at 8pm.

In addition to the some 40 artworks priced from Bt3,000 to Bt30,000, Stephff will also showing one of his wood sculpture totems.

Works by a Turkish photographer are also on show.

The gallery is located at 36/4, Soi Sukhumvit 39. Find out more at Facebook.com/SucioArtGallery/

After a three-year hiatus, the Office of Contemporary Arts and Culture’s Silpathorn Awards are back. Among the seven artists in seven genres of contemporary arts who were honoured yesterday afternoon at the Ratchdamnoen Contemporary Art Centre was Thailand’s most prolific stage director Suwandee Jakravoravudh. Now 55 years old – the maximum age for Silpathorn eligibility – this national recognition of her is long overdue.

In our phone interview, she laughs, humbly as always, saying “I’m very surprised: I’ve never thought the works I’ve been doing were eligible for this award. I’m a professional stage director and I make a living from theatre,

which one may deem ‘commercial’, as well as other related works. My works are for the masses; the sponsors [for our stage productions] don’t think so, though –’They’re too niche’, they say.”

A graduate of Thammasat University’s Drama Department, Suwandee started her career working for stage productions by Theatre 28 and Monthienthong Theatre as well as freelancing in TV and film. Her costume design for the 1986 film “Chang Man Chan Mai Care” won the equivalent of an Oscar – a Suphannahong Award. Shortly after, she co-founded the professional theatre company Dass Entertainment, now known as Dreambox. One “S” from the company’s name was taken from her initial, the “DA” from her Chulalongkorn University colleague Daraka Wongsiri, Thailand’s most prolific playwright, all of whose works have been staged by Suwandee. Some middle-aged, and older, theatregoers, myself included, may still remember her directorial debut, the heartfelt musical “Mon Phleng Khanom Khrok”, at the now defunct MBK Hall. In 1993, the company took up residence at Bangkok Playhouse, now known as M Theatre, and ever since the audience has been enjoying comedies, dramas as well as musicals, both originals written by Daraka, and translations and adaptations, there. This is in addition to a few productions of son et lumiere shows like “The River of Kings”, “Phra Mahachanok the Phenomenal Live Show” and Bangkok’s latest tourist show “Himmapan Avatar”.

Looking back, she says: “I think our [Dass Entertainment’s and Dreambox’s] works have solidly proved that one can have a professional career in theatre. We can make a decent living from it. When we started Dass, many of our theatre classmates were working for other media and only found time to work on theatre productions from time to time. We’re the opposite. I think that as a result of this, others have followed our paths with more confidence.”

Suwandee giggles: “But of course, if you want to get rich, you should consider investing in the stock market.”

The veteran director says time management is one of the greatest obstacles in her career, explaining: “It takes a great deal of time to work on a theatre production and we’re working with professional actors, who always need to juggle their time between television, film, and stage works. And as the latter pays the least, we need to agree on this crucial condition. That said, what’s good about this condition is that we always get to work with actors who’re willing [to sacrifice their time and income from other gigs in order] to work with us and develop [their stage acting skills] along with us. In the early years [of Dass Entertainment], we came up with our choice of plays and looked for actors; later on, we had a pool of actors with whom we could work [even though our company doesn’t have an acting ensemble] and then found works that would not only fit but also challenge them and us [the creative team]. In recent years, though, as the traffic problem has become worse, we have less time while we need to keep our standards, or even better ourselves in every new work. Each work has different problems – difficulty of the script, for example – so we need to efficiently plan our rehearsal process and tackle them accordingly.”

As for the theatre audience, she opines: “I think they’re also growing [old] along with us. When we first started Dass almost three decades ago before we had our own venue, we  were mainly targeting those who had just graduated and started working and might not be able to afford a ticket to a play at Monthienthong Theatre. And so our tickets for a full-scale professional theatre production back then were more than five times less. Our best sellers have always been comedies [like ‘Thuen Thuek’] and yet we have tried to keep diversity in our programming – we want to prove that an entertaining play isn’t restricted to comedy. That’s why we also stage dramas [for example, ‘Kulap si lueat’], detective stories [‘Go Back for Murder’] and family plays [‘Rai saen suk’]. We’re trying to expand our target group as widely as possible but of course not every genre is everyone’s cup of tea.”

With more than 60 stage works to her credit, it’s quite a surprise that Suwandee has yet to stage a Shakespearean play. That’s about to change this weekend with her production of “Twelfth Night, or What You Will”.

Suwandee, who once performed in a Shakespearean play, explains: “Given their literary values, I think most Thai theatre audiences think that Shakespearean plays are too difficult for them to enjoy. Many years ago, Daraka and I were discussing the possibility of staging King Rama VI’s translation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ but after considering the fact that our actors might not be able to handle it, we rejected the idea. Then we read ‘Twelfth Night’ and found that it’s very relevant to Thai people and also that it’s very funny. I also recall having a great time watching Nopamat Veohong’s production of it in 1988 at Chulalongkorn University.”

“For this production, which has been postponed from last year when the world was celebrating Shakespeare 400, we’re using the newly translated script by Daraka who, while strictly following the original, also needed to substitute some figures of speech to make sure they communicate with the Thai audience.”

The cast mostly comprises professional actors who’ve worked with Dass and Dreambox, and Suwandee notes, “All of them have seasoned experience in spoken plays, the demands of which are very different from musicals which we’ve been producing in recent years [like ‘Madam White Snake’ and ‘Mom’], and they’re having fun tackling this new acting challenge.”

And while Shakespearean productions in other countries are having fun setting them in different periods, the costume and set designs of Dreambox’s “Twelfth Night” look like the kind of Shakespearean play with which we’re familiar.

“I don’t think the audience here has seen many Shakespearean productions yet and so we figured it would be more interesting to keep the Elizabethan look, which is like a foreign likay and funny at the same time.”

BETTER A WITTY FOOL THAN A FOOLISH WIT

•   Dreambox’s “Twelfth Night” is at M Theatre, on New Phetchaburi Road between Thong Lor and Ekamai, this Saturday and Sunday in addition to September 16-17 and 23-24.
•  Showtime is Saturday at 2pm and 7.30pm and Sunday at 2pm only. It’s in Thai with no translation.
•  Tickets cost Bt1,300 and Bt1,500 at (085) 416 6661-4.
•  Find out more at http://www.DreamboxTheatreBkk.com.