A modern classic play, a Greek film, The Beatles and Italian operas were sources of inspiration for the young artists at the second Take Off Festival, which took place at the Thong Lor Art Space last weekend and showcased works by recent drama graduates. This year's programme proved to be even more satisfying than the last, with these creative voices surprising us at every turn. Here are the highlights:
Form
Choreographer Natnareekan Pongprasatsuk adapted Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie into a dance that explores the inner turmoil of the play's main character, Laura. While the piece demonstrated conceptual potential, it also revealed Natnareekan's limited choreographic and visual vocabulary. There were glimpses of touching tenderness and pain and choreography and dancing that still appealed to the audience. But Form was still an awkward marriage of the abstract and the narrative that sometimes strayed into clichéd and sentimental territory.
Guy
This non-stop athletic feat was hands-down the most exhilarating performance of the festival. Choreographer and performer Atthapol Gatenuam turned familiar workout moves into an unabashedly homoerotic and slyly humorous fitness pageantry and homosexual seduction. Atthapol's choreography was as simple as it was smart. He and three other performers moved with impressive energy and strength. But Atthapol also understood that flirtation, like a workout, is a balancing act of exertion and grace. And Guy achieved precisely just that.
Trissadee Maiyamok (The Old Man And The Tree)
It's refreshing to see a play centred on a flawed and not entirely likeable character by a young playwright. Vich Saenardhan's Sodsai Award-winning play tells a story of a middle-aged man and his lifelong obsession with propagating an absurd theory on life. At times awkward and overdone, the play is an unusual but touching rumination on passion, purpose and belief. Vich treats his protagonist with equal respect and admonishment. Director Thapanand Thanadulyawat and Rattai Lokutorapol (reprising his Sodsai Award-winning performance) crafted the character into life with a mature touch, supported by a strong cast and appropriately underscored by The Beatles' Nowhere Man.
Dogtooth
Playwright, director and performer Tassakorn Seepuan adapted Dogtooth, the 2009 film by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, into a sharply political and visually spare physical theatre piece. Although Tassakorn stuck to the plot of the film, he subtly wove in details that made his version of Dogtooth reminiscent of Thailand's political and social climate from the beginning. A teenage brother and sister who have never left their house are forced to live in a world where logic is entirely constructed by their father. Tassakorn handled the issues of freedom, authority and cruelty with impressive slyness and intelligence. A beautiful, mature and daring piece of work.
Da Capo
Playwright and director Tarin Prinyaknit presented an engaging and ambitious play about love and the love of music. Da Capo follows a respected classical musicologist who's working on a jukebox opera with her romantic partner. Tarin's passion for and knowledge of classical music were palpable throughout the play. The structure of the play even mirrors the musical directive, da capo, or the return to the beginning. But the conflicts and the characters are trivial and unconvincing. Tarin was too eager to exhibit the depth of his knowledge and sometimes forgot how words can conjure up relatable characters and enhance music, but also rob it of emotions.
Form.
The Old Man And The Tree.
