After hosting Bangkok’s 1st International Children’s Theatre Festival in June, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre’s (BACC) 5th Performative Art Festival (PAF) continues with Anatta Theatre Troupe’s “Dragon’s Heart (Special Edition)”. This is Silpathorn artist Pradit Prasartthong’s revival, not restage, of “Mangkon Salat Klet: The Musical” seen at Thailand Cultural Centre last year and awarded best musical book by IATC Thailand.

This “special edition” turns out to be the stage equivalent of the “director’s cut”, with Pradit telling this poignant story the way he wants to and leaving the audience |wondering whether the version they watched last year was actually the “producers’ cut”. Indeed, it looked very like an event staged to honour the centenary of the birth of Puey Ungphakorn, late governor of the Bank of Thailand, rector of Thammasat University and Magsaysay Award recipient.

Instead of recounting this long tale chronologically from his young days when he was denying his Chinese roots the way the grand-scale musical did last year for the wider public, the new “Dragon’s Heart starts with the core member of the Free Thai Movement landing with his parachute in Chainat province by mistake. By the end of the first act, the story has already reached the October 1973 student demonstration. That means the second act is meatier, and less biographical. And as the audience witnesses social and political conflicts – in public and in private, on university grounds as well as a restaurant and the family dining room – we are reminded again of the struggle and the blood and tears spilt for the sake of our democracy. As a result, instead of simply worshipping this statesman, his deeds and words, we learn from them and make sure we make our present and future better than the recent past we witness on the stage. For me personally, it highlights a question to which I can find no response: is it because of the system or the people or just how we succumb to the way of the country?

The traverse stage configuration, putting the audience on both sides of the performance area, fits the play as it draws us closer to the stage actions and the messages. Set props are kept to the minimum on the bare stage, although some pieces are too heavy and the sound of rolling them into the performance area interferes with the music. Lighting also helps differentiate the scenes and sets up the right mood and tone on this blank canvas.

Instead of casting different actors |to portray lead characters at different |ages the way he did last year, Pradit |allows his lead performers Passakorn Rungruengdechapat, as Puey, and Tanyarat Pradittan, as his wife Margaret, to show their acting prowess as their characters age realistically. As a professional singer, the former’s singing skills far surpass those of the latter, but there again the musical score, highly influenced by lakhon rong, is truly demanding. Another acting and singing delight is award-winning actress Janya Thanasawangkul, as Puey’s mother, who occasionally appears in his subconscious, and whose appearance is alerted by smoke starting to fill the stage.

Despite a cast of only 14, most of whom perform different roles in different scenes (with even some leads appearing in supporting roles), the crowd scene never looks sparse. Likewise, music director Gandhi Wasuvitchayagit deftly leads his four-musician ensemble who produce a sound more textured and layered than what we would expect from two pianos, one violin, one Thai flute and percussion.

And in a piece of good news for the non-Thai speaking audience who would like to enjoy a contemporary Thai musical, this special edition comes equipped with English surtitles, accurately translated though difficult to read at times when the stage lights are full on.

His life and works

– As part of BACC’s 5th Performative Art Festival, Anatta Theatre Troupe’s “Dragon’s Heart (Special Edition)” is at BACC’s 4th floor studio (BTS: National Stadium) until September 4.

– Showtime is 7pm, with 2pm performances on Saturday and Sunday.

– It’s staged daily, except Monday and Tuesday, in Thai with English surtitles.

– This week’s tickets are Bt600 (Bt350 for students) and next week’s are Bt700 (Bt450 for students). Call (094) 492 4424. For more information, visit Facebook.com/AnattaTheatre

The 2016 edition of the Singapore International Festival of Arts (Sifa) kicked off on August 11, with by-invitation-only guests packing out the Drama Centre Theatre at the National Library. Marking the worldwide Shakespeare 400 celebration this year and underlining “Potentialities”, as the main theme of Sifa 2016, was “Hamlet l Collage”, Canadian director Robert Lepage’s collaboration with Russia’s Theatre of Nations.

The piece is both a visual and acting masterpiece in which human skills and technological prowess live happily together. Set designer Carl Fillion created an automated cube that was raised above the stage, Lionel Arnould filled it with images, Lepage and Bruno Matte added their lighting design, and Thomas Payette his videos, and the result was a series of selected scenes of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” seen through the mind of an actor portraying the title character. The clue was given through his costume in the first scene when Evgeny Mironov appeared as the actor. Mironov has been recognised |as a Distinguished Artist of Russia and showed the audience that he merited this honour throughout his 125-minute solo performance. Not only did he perform and shift into and out of several roles with ease and at different paces, but he also mastered his entrances into and exits out of the cube.

It’s always fun watching a play you know well staged in a way that you have never dreamed off and in an era when computer graphics and film viewing experience like 4DX take us to places we never imagined, watching live theatre can still put you at the edge of your seat.

I recall my experience two decades ago watching Lepage performing solo in his production “Hamlet” and my amazement at seeing a second actor taking a bow alongside him at the curtain call. He didn’t keep that secret this time as it was evident to the audience that another non-speaking actor was necessary in certain scenes. At the curtain call, though, more than 10 backstage crew members who had helped manoeuvre this technically demanding work also took a bow with the two actors. There’s more to it than meets the eyes in this composite art known as theatre, and our appreciation was truly due.

Meanwhile at the historic Victoria Theatre, the audience sampled a different dramatic flavour as Egyptian playwright and director Ahmed El Attar’s “The Last Supper” offered a rare look not only into contemporary Egyptian theatre but also post-Arab Spring bourgeoisie, which is something we don’t see on the TV news.

This colourful production showcased different generations of actors and their characters’ dialogues, as well as their love of selfies, were filled with such absurdity that I was reminded of many people I know who simply do not care about – and are thus never affected by – what’s happening around them. When dramatic tension rose, El Attar masterfully put in a visual pause, as main actors froze, the stage was swathed with red light and the servant brought in more food at a slow pace.

A major problem for the Asia premiere of this unique treat was that the English surtitles screen was placed too high above the 10 actors who delivered their Arabic dialogue at natural speed. Most members of the audience were thus forced to choose between watching the actors and guessing what they were saying, or reading the surtitles and missing out on the stage action. The dark comedy lost touch with many spectators as a result.

Much more to see

– Don’t miss this week Javanese dance master Sardono W Kusumo’s “Black Sun” and internationally acclaimed Singaporean playwright Huzir Sulaiman’s “The Last Bull: A Life in Flamenco”, in which he traces the life and works of flamenco dancer and choreographer Antonio Vargas.

– Creator of the Athens Olympics opening and closing ceremonies Dimitris Papaioannou will also stage the visual theatre “Still Life”.

– Sifa continues through September 17 at various venues.

– Admission prices range from free to SGD 80 (20percent discount for students and seniors).

– For reservation and more details, visit http://www.SIFA.sg.