A Bangkok theatre troupe known for politically and socially provocative performances has returned to bring fear to the stage, whether from ghosts and violence, or ignorance and oppression.
A collaboration between B-Floor, Crescent Moon Theatre and Lanyim Theatre, Biopsy of Fear is a series of three consecutive performances that lead the audience to unpack all forms of fear through movement- and text-based performances and the avant-garde Japanese dance of Butoh.
Directed by B-Floor’s Teerawat “Ka-ge” Mulvilai, A Thorn of Conceptual Pain is a poetic take on two uprisings in two different places and times: one based on a modern Burmese poem and another set in early-20th century Siam’s northeast. The performance traces and collects fragments of their stories through verse, body movement and percussion used to ward off the “fear.”
Drawing inspiration from today’s youth-led, pro-democracy movement, The Cowbell and the Invisible uses Japanese Butoh to question if people are puppets of the familiar who have lost their voices and become invisible. The show is directed and performed by Sineenadh Keitprapai of Crescent Moon Theatre.
Last up is Dear Mother Snake by Lanyim Theatre’s Nontawat Machai. Nontawat adapted the show from a contemporary Thai poem about a big-game hunter in the former kingdom of Pattani to explore conflict, violence and suppression in Thailand’s Deep South. English surtitles are provided.
The two-hour Biopsy of Fear runs 7pm to 9pm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on the fourth floor of Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. Tickets are THB900 per seat (THB800 for students and THB700 per person for groups of at least 10).
