Bangkok Art and Culture Centre presents Dialogue With A Flower-Crowned Man Of Thorns, a performance built on artistic dialogue, at its Studio, 4th floor, this Saturday and Sunday at 2pm.
Audiences are invited to a dialogue with Teerawat Mulvilai, an artist who harnesses anger as a force to create and reflect on Thai social structural issues, and re-examine his life path and body of work, not as a solo retrospective, but as a collaborative process of "reading" and discovery alongside six co-creators.
When an AI was tasked with researching Teerawat's performing arts through the lens of theatre and art theory, it coined the term "Post-dramatic Political Physical Theatre". While this term was an AI synthesis, it is undeniable that Teerawat's work intersects these three pillars -- post dramatic, political and physical theatre, while inhabiting other unmentioned categories.
However, looking back at audience feedback, the notions which emerge and reflect on emotional impact are disjointed from theory -- "biting", "heavy", "tragicomic", "bitterly funny", "sublime", "exhausting for the performers", "provocative", "bold", and "I didn't understand it, but I felt something".
Some theatre practitioners and observers have stopped watching Teerawat's work, citing reasons such as it being too furious, too demanding, excessive confrontation with the audience or leaving them feeling too overwhelmed.
What kind of person creates performances that tackle social issues through beautiful mise-enscène, yet leaves the audience in a state of simultaneous amusement and tension? How did they grow up? What are they "on"?
These questions serve as the birth of the upcoming performance -- a collaboration between Teerawat and a group of artists comprising performers Dujdao Vadhanapakorn, Sarut Komalittipong and Kawin Bhichitkul; sound engineer Kamonpat Pimsarn; multimedia designer Nontawat Numbenchapol; and costume designer Nicha Puranasamriddhi.
The process evolved through a series of dialogues, both collective and individual, incorporating interviews and recreational activities. This foundational research then transitioned into the rehearsal room, where the ensemble activated Teerawat's archives.
For this project, Teerawat allows the narrative to emerge from the dialogue between the body and the material objects. This retrospective approach resonates with the ensemble's experiments in sound, sculpture, movement and moving images within a performing arts laboratory.
There is no admission fee. Visit bacc.or.th.
