Ii seems to have happened overnight, but Somtow Sucharitkul is at the halfway point in composing his 10-opera epic “DasJati” (“Tossachat – Ten Lives of the Buddha”), collectively touted by trade publications as the “biggest opera of all time”. It will be, too – provided that the composer survives to realise his extraordinary ambition.

Opera Siam’s compilation of scenes from the first five installations in the cycle – staged at the Thailand Cultural Centre on June 25 and 26 in honour of His Majesty the King’s 70th year on the throne – afforded a wonderful opportunity to revisit some of the more unusual highlights from Somtow’s fevered imagination.

Presented once again in wondrous fashion were the shipwreck and angelic rescue scene from “Mahajanaka”, the animals in the forest mourning the death of “Sama: The Faithful Son”, and the temptation of the Death-God from “The Silent Prince”, as well as the wittily electrifying Baby Dragon Dance from “Bhuridat”.

These musical dramas were performed in Bangkok over the past four years, but most interesting of all was the “sneak preview” of the next entry, “Chariot of Heaven”, from which the audiences at the Cultural Centre were treated to the scene “Tavatimsa Heaven”.

One of the problems in setting these 10 beloved Jataka tales of the Buddha’s incarnations to music is the sheer variety of storytelling techniques involved. Some of the stories are intimate and simple. Others have complicated, generation-spanning plots, and “Chariot of Heaven” derives from one of the latter. It’s based on Nimi Jataka, the story of King Nemiraj, who was so noble that the gods invited him to preach to them in Heaven.

It will be interesting to see how Somtow ultimately copes with this Jataka, since it is virtually without a plot, and yet 84,000 generations pass by within its first few pages. In place of the usual conflict that drives drama, this tale offers a tour of Heaven and Hell.

Knowing he had no plot to rely on, Somtow has resorted to a stunning array of musical devices. There is the lush orchestration that includes Tibetan bowls, an Indian tanpura and even a theremin. There are the edge-of-your-seat vocals. The god Agni, sung by Stacey Tappan, has some of the toughest, wildest coloratura passagework ever heard in an opera, and the American diva brings it off with elan.

And, for the entry into Heaven, Somtow has conceived a musical effect that is surely Guinness Book of Records material. The Davadueng heaven of Buddhist cosmology is populated by 33 named gods. To represent this, Somtow wrote the operatic ensemble number with 33 solo voices, a remarkable feat given that the biggest ensembles in opera tend to be sextets.

Finding capable singers for such a monumental grouping would be daunting for any opera company. Somtow enlisted an eclectic team including Purcell School-trained Khun Ploypailin Jensen, the royal granddaughter, who gave a touching account of Atma, the Soul. Other notable non-opera gods were luk thung star Jonas Anderson, as the wind god, jazz songstress Athalie de Koning as the God of Mind, and “Thailand’s Got Talent” winner Myra Molloy as a star goddess.

Somtow’s vision of Heaven combines the Buddhist ideal of stillness (there are only two chord shifts in eight minutes) with exotic colouration. It’s a bit like an oriental transformation of the opening of Wagner’s “Rheingold”. The stage and costumes are white – the 33 gods, garbed in an array of costumes that owe as much to Mount Olympus as Mount Sumeru, dance in an intricate slow-motion clockwork. One visitor from France was heard to remark on the way out, “If this is Heaven, I’m not afraid of death anymore.”

Whether a vision that has begun with such ambition can in fact be sustained over a span of 10 works has yet to be tested in the history of music. Even Wagner’s Ring Cycle has boring parts, as any but the most devoted Wagnerites will admit. Based on this mini-sampler, though, it looks as though Somtow plans to combat this danger by propelling the action and laying on the colour at an accelerated, cinematic pace. It’s a “Spielbergian” view of opera. Perhaps with works such as these, opera can begin grabbing some of the movie business’ market share.

Ask Bangkok kids the one stage performance they look forward to watching in a calendar year and most will answer “Disney on Ice”. Ask the more than 1,000 youngsters who attended the 1st Bangkok International Children’s Theatre Festival (BICT Fest) from June 21 to July 3 at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) and the chances are the answers will be very different.

In a sprawling metropolis like Bangkok where the choices for children’s weekend activities tend to be limited to department stores where tutoring centres and music and dance schools are also conveniently located, BICT Fest, organised by Arts on Location and Democrazy Studio, was a welcome addition to our performing arts calendar and met with much enthusiasm. Many performances, local and international, were sold out and some productions needed to add a few extra shows to meet the demand.

Delights and surprises were abundant. At the fourth floor studio, UK’s Theatre Rites, performing in a non-English speaking country for the first time and limiting their spoken language here, ingeniously taught us how to recycle garbage properly by showing us the many different creative ways in which garbage can have a second life. Later on the same afternoon, Indonesia’s Paper Moon not only made use of puppets created by local participants in their week-long workshops but also incorporated, seamlessly, a local puppeteer in “The Old Man’s Books”, showing that regional collaboration is clearly a possible direction for future BICT Fests.

The following weekend, the studio was transformed into a theatre-in-the-round and veteran Japanese contemporary dance artist Kaiji Moriyama proved with his solo performance “Live Bone” that contemporary dance could be understood and enjoyed by children too.

“When All Was Green” by Israel’s Key Theatre was another lesson in environmental conservation, keenly told without words, successfully crossing cultural boundaries, and with a simple set made with used leaves of books..

An international festival wouldn’t be complete without local works and BICT Fest provided an international stage, or at least more exposure, to the storytelling masters Kid Jam for their “Little Cat”, a tuneful retelling of a Japanese tale on death. A week later, also in the kid’s room of BACC library, young members of B-Floor Theatre staged “The Adventure of Yoo Dee”, completely free of political commentary. Although their skills and vision in shadow puppetry and object theatre are still in development, this work was a nice addition to the company’s repertoire. Veteran Chiang Mai all-female shadow puppet troupe The Wandering Moon and Endless Journey Performing Group gave a delightful performance but their 15-minute “Yellow O” was too brief to make any real impact.

My unforgettable BICT experience was attending Portuguese company Companhia de Musica Teatral’s “AliBaBach”, along with many toddlers in arms, most of whom were watching their first stage performance and some of whom responded to and communicated with the two performers in their own language.

In addition to the performances, all foreign companies conducted a variety of workshops, both at BACC and the nearby Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts. Lectures and discussion forums with foreign and local artists and scholars were also held. All these extra activities made BICT a complete festival that left not only fond memories but also provided important knowledge for artists and audiences.

With strong support from foreign cultural partners like the Japan Foundation, the British Council, the Embassy of Israel, the Portuguese Cultural Centre and Fundacao Oriente on top of that offered by the well-equipped city-centre venue, one has to wonder why this new initiative in contemporary arts, which has high potential to continue way into the future, is supported by neither the Ministry of Culture’s Office of Contemporary Art and Culture (OCAC) nor the Thai Health Foundation. The former seems to prefer organise its own one-off festivals; the latter is, otherwise, known for their continuous support for children’s theatre. With more local support, BICT could lower its ticket prices. Current ones for foreign shows, Bt450 for adults and Bt150 for children, might have prevented many families from watching more than one work, or even resulted in dads having to wait for mother and child at a cafe.

The plan is for BICT to be a biannual event, but judging from the audience’s reaction to Bangkok’s first-ever full-scale festival of children’s theatre, it certainly warrants being an annual event.

In the meantime, I’m using some kind of Disney magic to turn my overweight 20-month-old four-legged “son” into a lighter two-legged version, so we can enjoy this quality family time together at the next BICT.

 

During the intermission of “Shrek: The Musical” last Sunday at Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre, two young boys in front of me were asked by their aunt whether they preferred this show to “Disney on Ice”. The kids didn’t answer and I found it impossible to interpret their silence.

Stage musical adaptations of popular animated films are a major trend in commercial theatre – we’re now awaiting Disney’s “Frozen” which is slated to hit Broadway in the spring of 2018.

There are hits and misses of course, but producers are always confident that the audience will likely come in groups of three or more – a demographic almost always made up of two adults and one or more children.

Among the few challenges faced by the production creative team is to prove that this live experience is more than just the same old familiar story told in a different medium and also to make sure that it can also be enjoyed almost equally by the accompanying adults. Visionary director Julie Taymor set the bar so high with Disney’s “The Lion King” that it’s difficult for anyone to topple her record.

And while Dreamworks is pulling the market share from Disney, Dreamworks Theatricals, with this musical being the only production, cannot quite catch up with Disney Theatrical Productions.

With a running time of two hours and 10 minutes as opposed to 90 minutes for the 2001 film, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire masterfully added background story to both Shrek and Princess Fiona. In the end, all members of the audience agree that fairytales must be updated and not all people can simply be stereotyped as hero, heroine and villain like in the traditional Disney animated films.

The American playwright also poked fun at popular musicals like “Les Miserables” and “Wicked” although most audience members here couldn’t catch these jokes.

The international touring production put together by NET Works and brought here for five days in between its tour dates in Singapore and Macau by BEC-Tero Scenario featured a commendable American cast.

Understudy Jack O’Brien in the title role never sounded nor looked like an understudy and he carried the show with charm and sincerity that could be felt through the thick make-up and heavy costume.

He was, though, slightly upstaged by Lindsay Estelle Dunn as Princess Fiona – thanks in part to Lindsay-Abaire’s addition for this role – who had no trouble switching back and forth between the stereotypical helpless heroine and kick-ass woman determined to get whatever she wants. Another delight was Christian Marriner whose character Lord Farquaad was two feet shorter than him and delivered all the comedic punches. Standing out from the ensemble of fairytale characters was Tony Johnson whose Pinocchio balanced both cartoonish and human characteristics.

As the curtain went down on this colourful production, my feeling was exactly the same as when I watched it in West End a few years ago. Back home, I put “Shrek” into my DVD player and started dreaming that BEC Tero Scenario will soon bring here – though not necessarily in this order-“The Lion King”, “Once” and “Hamilton”.

Another restage

– From August 4, Takokiet Viravan restages his jukebook musical “Lom Haichai” based on Boyd Kosiyabong’s songbook with new cast members, including pianist and crooner Saksit “Tor+” Vejsupaporn, at Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre.

– Tickets are from Bt500 to Bt3,000 at Thai Ticket Major.

– For more, check out http://www.Rachadalai.com.

 

Earlier this year, members of the Thailand centre of the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC) made note of a major trend in contemporary Thai theatre – the significant rise, in both quantity and quality, of English-language productions by local expat theatre troupes.

What we forgot was the fact that for almost a decade now we have been enjoying Thai-language plays, usually performed with both Japanese and English surtitles, by resident Japanese playwright and director Shogo Tanikawa.

His latest work “Like a Rat: I Want to Be Beautiful” finished its three-weekend run at Blue Box Theatre last night and, like his previous plays, drew the attention and attendance of both Japanese expats and Thai fans who adore his different look at life,

In this entertaining dark comedy, five strangers who met online decide to meet in person at a deserted warehouse full of mannequins. Despite the weird and wonderful costumes, the five are there to commit suicide together, albeit for different if valid reasons.

Tanikawa himself performed Sun, a “Hikikomori” who boxes himself in literally and figuratively, and as always his Japanese accent in delivering Thai dialogue was charming. Veteran actor Apirak Chaipanha portrays Gaga, a man married with children who realises that husband and father are not the roles he wants to play. Dressed as famous Japanese robot Gundam, Tewan Siripatanakulkajorn is Amuro, whose mother is against his fascination with Japanese manga. In the clothes of the knight in shining armour, Adidet Chaiwattanakul portrays another man who no longer wants to live and in those of the mermaid, Kanorkwan Intarapat is a professional singer whose recent surgery prevents her from singing again.

All is going to plan until – and this was more predictable than the twists in Tanikawa’s previous works – they realise they have nothing to light their charcoal with. None accepts other means of suicide, like strangling one another with the many red threads in the room.

While his commentary on the social media is commendable, it is amazing, even mind-numbing, how many different ways strangers can meet without ever coming face to face.

I do wish, though, that Tanikawa, as the director, had been able to find more time to hone the acting skills of his players. Adidet and Kanorkwan were realistic while the remainder were larger than life, and this led to a lack of balance when all five were on stage together. Of course, the play’s main theme, as suggested in the subtitle, “I want to be beautiful”, is pivotal in this day and age when many of us are not satisfied with what we have and each person spends more time, alone by himself online and yet feeling that he’s really connected to the whole world while in fact he’s living in an urban studio apartment by himself.

When Tanikawa was working as part of Life Theatre, whose other two core members are actress Sasithorn Panichnok and director Bhanbhassa Dhubthien, his works, like “Water Time” and “The Three Sisters”, were more refined. Theatre is a collaborative art after all, and one simply cannot do everything.

And so I wish to see the next work by Life Theatre soon: we have had enough of theatre troupes who come and go.

 

Despite my tiredness last Sunday night, I felt wide awake and full of hope for the future of Thai theatre when Splashing Theatre Company’s new work “The Disappearance of the Boy on a Sunday Afternoon” at Democrazy came to an end. My fatigue was due to a long, albeit fruitful, afternoon at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre watching four performances at the 1st Bangkok International Children’s Theatre Festival. The optimism stemmed from the fact that this, the fourth work by this two-year-old troupe – which includes the award-winning “Whaam!” – was an enthralling and entertaining drama.

Unlike many works by people of his generation who tend to dwell on their personal stories and problems – broken homes, shattered dreams and unfulfilled romance among others – and usually employ the art of realistic theatre, the troupe’s playwright, director and founder Thanaphon Accawatanyu goes further in both dramatic content and theatrical form.

In terms of the former, he tells a suspenseful and unpredictable domestic drama of young man Sun who returns home, after 10 years, to see his brother Nite and sister Earth. It’s not a simple family reunion tale as the press release suggests, as Thanaphon gradually and masterfully reveals more about these three siblings, whose adolescence was influenced by their father in his presence and absence. For example, Nite and Earth were never allowed to leave home and Earth’s teddy bear was treated like her, and vice versa. Social and political satire was also in evidence here and there.

For the latter, Thanaphon is comfortable to go beyond realism, using different styles to get his messages across, without fearing that some of his audience members might not completely understand what’s going on in certain scenes.

With his background in film, Thanaphon has evidently been influenced by European arthouse cinema, yet his deft staging proves that he knows how theatre, as opposed to film, works. Also, his set and lighting designer Sompak Ounthapan is a true partner-in-crime and their collaboration makes this production, with minimal set and props, a feast for the eyes as well as the mind and ears.

Notwithstanding the young thespians’ lack of experience, all three of them – namely Pradanai Natepra-sertkul as Sun, Kitti Tantisrisuk as both Nite and Sea and Jetnipit Sahusyotin as Earth – were convincing and their characters’ presence was subdued yet arresting.

I wish, though, that they had been a little more relaxed and had more fun with their dialogue, which Thanaphon could have also diversified more in accordance with characters.

I also hope that Thanaphon and this company will soon start exploring possibility of writing more mature characters and working with more experienced actors, most of whom, I’m quite sure, would now be more than happy to answer their call.

And have I mentioned that all members of the cast and crew behind this unorthodox and uncompromising theatrical gem look younger than 25?

A bright future for Thai theatre indeed!

Next at Democrazy

– Jaturachai Srichanwanpen, another core member of Democrazy, will stage his new play “The Moo Moo Field” from July 28 to August 15, except Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30pm.

– It’s in Thai with English surtitles.

– Tickets are Bt550 (discounts for advanced transfer and group bookings) at (086) 899 5669.

For more details, check Facebook.com/DemocrazyStudio

– Keep track of these young and talented theatre artists’ next moves at Facebook.com/SplashingTheatre.

 

In addition to the intimate performances of dance, music and theatre in its small venues, the Esplanade—Theatres on the Bay’s inaugural “Super Japan: Japanese Festival of Arts” last month also featured a couple of productions on a much grander scale.

In the Esplanade Concert Hall, the Suntory Hall’s 30th-anniversary production “Himiko: Memories of the Sun Goddess” stunned the audience with an ingenious interpretation of an ancient myth on the themes of birth and revival, blending classical and contemporary music composed by Yoshihiro Kanno, who also held the baton. This unique performance was the brainchild of Kanno, kabuki actor Fukusuke Nakamura, violinist Yasuko Ohtani and shamisen performer Mojibei Tokiwazu and saw such western instruments as cello and organ sharing the stage with their Japanese counterparts, the shamisen and koto. Dancers also moved on the same stage and interacted with musicians in such a way that there was no boundary between dance and music. And because the Suntory Hall, where the performance premiered two years ago, has its stage in the middle, the restage deftly had members of the monks’ chorus entering and exiting through the foyer stalls, walking along the aisles past the audience, thus further involving us in their sublime pageant.

Over the same weekend, across the Concourse at the Esplanade Theatre, the globetrotting butoh group Sankai Juku’s “Meguri: Teeming Sea, Tranquil Land”, which premiered last year in Fukuoka, took the audience on another immaculate journey of what director, choreographer and designer Ushio Amagatsu described as “phenomena like circulating water and all things that rotate.” While this concept risked repetition and predictability, his choreography made sure that this was not the case.

Having watched six Sankai Juku productions on four continents over the past 22 years, I’ve become a loyal fan and am inevitably delighted by the surprises I encounter in this contemporary art. Here, the grounded and highly articulated dance movements in some scenes were swifter than what we generally expect from butoh and Sankai Juku.

The textured backdrop, on which Amagatsu had recreated the image of fossils of the Paleozonic marine creatures, was a sharp contrast to the floor dispersed with sand and the performers powdered| in white, yet when swathed in different hues of lights took on a life of its own, as if another group of dancers were moving vertically.

In the end, we came to realise that in this contemporary world where everything moves so swiftly, we all need to pause, to relax and to contemplate and let our imagination freely take us to places we cannot reach, not even on the Internet.

These two performances explained why our curiosity about and fascination with Japanese culture has never faded and will likely continue. We love their traditional as much as contemporary and there’s plenty more for us to discover and cherish.

“Himiko” and “Meguri” are also prime examples of – and this is quite different from what our own Culture Ministry believes – the fact that an Asian performing arts culture needs not project only its traditional roots and pretend it has never encountered modernisation and westernisation.

We’re all using mobile phones, aren’t we?

Another blockbuster

– Esplanade’s annual da:ns festival is in October but the da:ns series continues with “The Sleeping Beauty” from August 4 to 7. Tickets cost S$40 to $125 at http://www.Sistic.com.sg. For more, http://www.Esplanade.com.

 

Thanks to Thong Lor Art Space (TLAS) whose curation is as surprising as it is inspiring, my regular nights out in trendy Thong Lor can be enjoyed just 100 metres from the BTS station. At no time since the era of AUA Thai Players in the late 1960s and early 1970s, do I recall any company staging the same play with two different casts speaking two languages – the original English and Thai. TLAS is doing just that and more, with 17 Thai language performances and the same number for English, for their new production of American playwright Josh Ginsburg’s “Stick Figures”, or “Khon Kang Pla” in Thai.

This 100-minute domestic drama tells the tale of a family who are unable to cope with the loss of their high-school daughter and hire a professional “surrogate” to stand in for her. All goes well until the couple’s son returns from college and doesn’t completely buy into the idea. He also discovers that the surrogate has been moonlighting, posing as the recently deceased wife of a lonely man. The surrogate’s secret is revealed towards the end of the play.

Filled with sincerity, keen observations on contemporary life and the smart use of all five actors, the play is truly touching and captivating. But, like works of many young playwrights who may be afraid that their audiences might not clearly get their messages, it delivers its messages too soon. Seasoned director Pattarasuda Anuman Rajadhon deftly stages this with all her heart and her set design is so highly practical that one scene moves into another seamlessly. Paphavee Limkul’s lighting design, which undergoes several changes during the drama, is both subtle and effective. Perhaps aiming for a more realistic performance, most of her actors’ voices are very soft and even in such a small theatre studio I had to move from the third to the front row to catch what they were saying.

The five-member Thai-speaking cast is a delight as they’re comfortable with the dialogue in both languages, partly thanks to translator Pattareeya Puapongsakorn, herself an awarded playwright, who made some context adaptation. Standing out is Varattha Tongyoo who effortlessly slips in and out of her three characters. Even when her performance reaches its emotional apex and the surrogate’s personal secret is revealed, she doesn’t get too carried away.

The English-speaking cast consists of only one native speaker, and Briton James Laver delivers another arresting performance. Although our government may be delighted to see that Thai people are ready for the Asean Economic Community, as evidenced in the proficiency of the Thai cast members here, it’s not yet up to the level of professional thespians who would otherwise act naturally and enjoy using different dialects of the language, as necessary in each play’s setting.

And if the production is not going to employ any voice or dialect coach, then casting native speakers in these roles—and there are a high number of them here in this expat-friendly city – would make it more credible as the play is, after all, set in the Big Apple, not the Big Mango.

Both casts have a similar letdown, namely the miscasting of the father and mother roles to actors too young to be believable as parents who prematurely lose their daughter. Does the Thai stage really lack actors and actresses in their mid- to late-40s?

STICK AROUND

– “Stick Figures” runs until June 30 at Thong Lor Art Space, a short walk from BTS Thong Lor.

– Shows are 8 nightly (except Tuesdays) with 2pm matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. The Thai and English performances alternate days.

– Tickets are Bt550 (Bt450 for advance transfer and Bt400 for students). Call (095) 924 4555 or check Facebook.com/ThongLorArtSpace.

 

Two decades ago a Singaporean theatre artist friend commented that there were many skillful theatre artists and companies here in Thailand but the problem was they didn’t like working together. The founding of the Bangkok Theatre Network (BTN) and Bangkok Theatre Festival (BTF) has partly changed that notion though there is still some hesitation by members of any group at leaving their comfort zones – the dramatic content, theatrical styles and even venues they’re familiar with – to collaborate with others.

Two years ago during the month of love, Wichaya Artamat teamed up with four playwright and director friends and they, under the name of Chomrom Sutwisai (literally the “out of control” club), presented five playlets under the name “Rak Khon La Khang” (“various sides of love”) at B-Floor Room.

Now they’re back, with a few new members and with “Long” (literally, “lost” or “obsessed with”), another quintet of plays at Democrazy Studio. And just like the way they used the word “Khang” as a prefix for many words back then, “Long” is used as excitingly differently here.

In Jirakit Soonthornlarpyod’s “Longthang” (“getting lost”), three characters are trapped in an undefined space in total darkness except for the green lights from their helmets. In Wichaya’s “Longluea” (“remaining”), the two sibling characters from the award-winning “Three Days in May” return to discuss who should get their father’s favourite bowl. Jaturachai Srichanwanpen’s “Longlai” (“infatuated”) cheekily satirises the Thai fascination with the supernatural and that of young Thai women with love. Veteran stage actresses Sawanee Utoomma and Jarunan Phantachat hilariously show us a glimpse of themselves a few decades from now in Parnrut Kritchanchai’s “Longluem” (“forgetful”). Finally, Dujdao Vadhanapakorn delivers another performance of the year as a blind woman in her “Longkon” (“tricked”). She shares with the audience a truly passionate personal story and, with Thai radio’s current no 1 hit playing at the beginning, a subtle political satire.

Most of actors are truly natural, and it seems that many of the playwrights/directors also allowed their actors to help create their dialogue, making their stories even more convincing and touching. Apart from being linked by a navigator, joyfully performed by Sethsiri Nirandorn who masterfully shifts in and out of different costumes and characters and gives a brief introduction to each playlet, the five share a few common props and references, and I wish here there were more. The fact that most playwrights/directors also performed in others’ plays also helps glue these five different works together.

A sheer delight and big surprise was that the five playlets were staged in four different spaces – two in the studio, one in the backyard, another in the small foyer, and the last on the sidewalk next to the small bar/cafe. Each was set up in accordance with the content and the style of each play and despite problems with the audience’s sight line in some of the space, shows that size never limits the artists’ imagination and creativity.

Two hours passed before I realised that I had been suffering from another stomach problem. “Long” didn’t heal it of course: I was mesmerized by its wonder only to be better guided in my real life.

Last performance tonight

Long” is at Democrazy Studio, Soi Saphan Khu, Rama IV road (5-minute walk from MRT Lumphini, Exit 1).

The last show is tonight at 8pm.

It’s in Thai with no English surtitles. Tickets are Bt550 at (081) 701 7992.

Find out more at Facebook.com/DemocrazyStudio.

Last month, the Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay added a new festival to its already packed calendar – the “Super Japan-Japanese Festival of Arts” – packing out the bayfront arts centre and delighting the crowds who simply couldn’t keep away.

Indeed, the last three days of the 10-day festival were so popular that I thought I had taken the wrong MRT exit and ended up in a department store taking part in the early Great Singapore Sale. I was later informed that it was partly because of the Matsuri, a street food bazaar and a Singaporean journalist colleague was quick to point out that whenever “street” and “food” are put in the same phrase in a country where street hawkers are never seen, this kind of response is only to be expected.

Of course, most people were not there just for food – the queue was too long and the food ran out soon anyway – but for the variety of ticketed and free-admission dance, theatre and music programmes, from traditional to contemporary, at all corners of the Esplanade. Even Pikachu, the short, chubby rodent who used to be called Pokemon, flew in from Japan to meet and greet fans.

The festival made sure that there was something for anyone and demonstrated that there’s a lot more to Japan and its culture than what is already so familiar. And like with so many cultural festivals, it provided an opportunity for me to go out of my artistic comfort zone and learn more.

The programme also drew on connections with Singapore, as evidenced in the “Music with Scenery” concert at the Recital Hall, featuring Japan’s Haruka Nakamura Piano Ensemble and it frequent collaborator, Singapore’s ASPIDISTRAFLY. Tickets for the show sold out so quickly that one more performance needed to be added.

The Singaporean duo appeared on the low-lit stage first and was followed after the intermission by the Japanese ensemble. The two acts then joined up for a set of their collaborative numbers, playing contemporary jazz compositions filled with ambient sounds and rhythms that didn’t differ much from one song to another. And even though their collaboration sounded like they were completing each other rather than creating something new from their encounter, the experience was enchanting.

Three evenings later at the same venue, the mood completely shifted at another sold-out concert “Songs of the Ryukyu Islands” by Unaigumi. The ensemble represented Okinawa, a part of Japan with a distinctive culture with which few of us are familiar. Okinawan goodies bags, with a map and souvenirs, were also handed out at the door. Performing both traditional Okinawan and new folk songs, the four women singers also played on the three-stringed sanshin (lute) with backing from their producer Kazuya Sahara, who was on the keys. Thanks in part to the fact that three out of four were members of the internationally renowned Okinawan group Nenes in the 1990s, Unaigumi exuded both the spirit of their sisterhood and their islands, and the new folk songs showed the audience how folk music traditions continue to develop. The fact that member Misako Koja is married to Sahara also made his introduction of songs and their conversation hilarious at times. And like in many traditional music concerts, the audience was invited to get up and dance along at the end.

Originally planned as a one-off festival, the popular and critical success of “Super Japan” might well make the Esplanade change its mind.

Next big hit

– As part of the Esplanade’s da:ns series, Sir Matthew Bourne’s “The Sleeping Beauty” will be at the Esplanade Theatre from August 4 to 7. Tickets are from SGD 40 to 125 (SGD 30 and 55 for students and seniors), at http://www.Sistic.com.sg. For more details, visit http://www.Esplanade.com.

In less than a month, Opera Siam presented Bangkok with no fewer than seven events – including three performances of an opera, the Thailand premieres of major repertory works for symphony orchestra and for chorus – from intimate chamber events all the way to a 105-piece orchestra concert.

First, Opera Siam presented Grigori Frid’s earnest monodrama “The Diary of Anne Frank” at the Bangkok Art and Culture. The opening night was so packed that extra chairs were brought in, making the aisles hard to negotiate. Sponsored by the German and Israeli Embassies, this was an intense production that moved its audience, some of them to tears.

The 1968 opera itself sounds a bit like warmed-over Shostakovich, but it is effective enough especially when interpreted by a soprano such as Kaleigh Rae Gamache, who created an endless variety of tone and characterization. This was a tour de force – a grown woman playing a fourteen year old girl without any condescension or over-simplifying – wholly believable.

The Siam Philharmonic played well – thrillingly in fact. It was difficult to believe that a mere nine players could produce such rich orchestral timbres. But, Singapore conductor Adrian Tan conducted with such gusto that the orchestra threatened to overwhelm the soprano at times. In fact, his energetic approach was best in the most nightmarish or militaristic passages.

As director and designer of the show Somtow Sucharitkul used the built-in claustrophobia of the tiny venue tellingly. He opened up the monodrama so that the characters talked about, the Frank family and their friends the Van Daans, appeared as silent roles, painted and dressed in monochrome so that the entire production resembled an animated old photograph. Movable flats are moved around to make the stage more and more of a closed trap as the story progresses. At the end, the flats are dramatically rolled off stage to reveal that the orchestra is dressed as Auschwitz inmates – a reminder that in the concentration camp, a prison orchestra used to play music in order to allay the panic of those about to be slaughtered.

This was the first opera ever staged at BACC and it shows that with the right work, the venue’s disadvantages can be turned into strengths. Particularly interesting was the fact that with minimal publicity, this work was able to draw three full houses.

After three performances of “Anne Frank”, the Siam Sinfonietta winds presented a chamber concert jointly conducted by Somtow Sucharitkul and Trisdee na Patalung – Stravinsky and Mozart. Both were strikingly idiomatic and enjoyable. The last event at the BACC was the Thai premiere of an iconic choral work, the “All-Night Vigil” by Rachmaninov, one of the crown jewels of Russian repertoire. The newly formed Calliope Chamber Choir gave a nuanced, rich performance, singing an hour’s worth of gruelling virtuoso music with elan, even though the very un-resonant acoustic of the hall worked against Rachmaninov’s cathedral effects. The audience was small, but deeply appreciative. Somtow’s latest initiative, the Calliope Choir was founded specially to introduce more of the European choir repertoire to Thailand.

From chamber music to huge spectacle – on May 11, Opera Siam presented two major concerts at the Thailand Cultural Centre. Opera Siam’s now annual “Very Big Music Festival” commemorates the “cosmic vision” of HRH Princess Galyani – and this year the theme was outer space.

Siam Philharmonic gave an inspirational account of Richard Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra” – otherwise known as the theme from “2001 – A Space Odyssey.” Strangely enough, this was the Thailand premiere of the complete thirty-minute piece, although the first two minutes have been played almost to death by every orchestra in town. This performance clearly showed that, as one of Bangkok’s three regular symphony orchestras, the maverick Siam Philharmonic is unique in its ability to unleash torrents of passion and provide a searing emotional experience. This was an extreme performance – conductor Somtow Sucharitkul stretched tempi in slow parts and whipped the allegros to a frenzy – and the orchestra, led by Hungarian violinist Vilmos Olah, followed into the abyss and through to transcendence. The SPO mustered 105 performers for the Strauss – no mean feat in itself.

After that, one barely noticed the three excerpts from John Williams’ “Star Wars” music that followed, though the audience was noisily appreciative.

Finally, on May 11, the Siam Sinfonietta, Opera Siam’s youth orchestra project, played the fiendishly difficult “The Planets” by Gustav Holst under Maestro Somtow’s baton. It was a daring bit of programming, but the young players were equal to its challenges. Siam Sinfonietta have just returned from Carnegie Hall’s Sounds of Spring Music Festival, where they won their fourth international gold award.

“Neptune”, the last piece in the “Planets” suite, featured a guest appearance by members of the Calliope Choir and also the children’s choir from the Imanuel Music School, a fascinating classical music venture originally established by Lutheran clerics in the disadvantaged area of Klong Toei. Some were as young as eight, but they handled the complex, bitonal music, all in 5/4 time, with nary a hitch.

An added bonus was the iconic “Darth Maul” music from Star Wars – the Phantom Menace. Somtow rewarded the enthusiastic audience by replaying this as the encore – at double speed!