F/T Connects More with Asia: A view from a Non-Japanese Speaking Audience

Pawit Mahasarinand (Thailand)
From 1994 to 2006, my experience of Tokyo and Japan was limited to the Narita Airport where I connected my flights between Bangkok and the US - my transit was so frequent that I even started a romantic relationship with a Thai woman passenger at a departure gate there. I was frequently informed back then that not only was it difficult to travel on your own unless you understand Japanese but the Japanese yen was also strong that I feared my Thai baht saving accounts would be much affected had I set foot outside the airport - and I am never a fan of guided tours.

My experience of Japanese theatre, hence, was limited to what the Japan Foundation brought to Thailand. Thai playgoers were lucky enough that JF had very keenly balanced traditional and modern performances - we watched kabuki and rakugo as well as works by Oriza Hirata and Hideki Noda, notwithstanding the fact that their budget only allowed very few productions annually. Anyhow, my ex-students who are now working professionally in theatre and television still recall what they had learned from attending a workshop with Hirata and later watched his "Tokyo Notes" at our university's blackbox theatre. Likewise, a large number of Thai playgoers and critics highly regard Noda's Thai production of "Yak Tua Dang" (Akaoni) as one of the decade's best. At last year's conference titled "International Collaboration and the Role of Criticism", co-organized by AICT (International Association of Theatre Critics), Japan Center and F/T, I made an observation that "Yak Tua Dang" has not only influenced contemporary Thai theatre stylistically, but also, given the fact that it brought together theatre artists from various groups, later led to the formation of Bangkok Theatre Network which has been the core of contemporary Thai theatre for more than a decade now.

Thanks to invitations - the Japanese yen remains strong against Thai baht - to lectures and conferences, I have actually walked through the customs at the Narita Airport in a few recent years. And after a few days of JR and Metro orientation by a Thai interpreter/guide, I both know how useful a PASMO card is and realize there are more English signs on the street and English menus in restaurants than an average non-Japanese speaking foreign visitor may presume. Meanwhile, the theatrical exchange between Thailand and Japan has recently been more than simply showing what artists in each country were working on. F/T09 Spring's "Kokashita", with Japanese and Thai performers, was later seen in Bangkok. Then, Thai productions of Hideki's "Nogyo Shojo" and "Akaoni" were at F/T09 Autumn a few weeks after their premieres at Bangkok Theatre Festival. Interestingly enough, the first Japanese theatre I ever watched in Japan was "Nogyo Shojo" at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space. The Japanese dialogues did not cause me much trouble as I had already read and watched the Thai translation and co-organized live internet broadcast of the F/T performance to Chulalongkorn University where I teach.

My 10-day experience as a critic-in-residence at F/T11 in late October to early November was both unique and special. Overall, watching one or two thought-provoking theatre productions a day, thanks in part to the sheer variety in dramatic content and theatrical style, both kept me sane - due to the flood, I evacuated from my house, the first time in my life, a week before arriving in Tokyo - and proved soundly that good theatre has plenty more than emotional values. English information in F/T's website and emails as well as in the performance are also very helpful. It is perhaps like a guide who keeps reassuring that F/T is truly becoming more international as Japan is opening up more to Asia and the world, although the limited number of F/T performances with English surtitles make it harder for non-Japanese speaking audiences and may end up turning them away.

Both Okazaki Art Theatre's "Hemispherical Red and Black" and Peachum Company's "Resurrection" clearly show post-3/11 state of mind and both works are filled with sense of anxiety from the unforgettable past in addition to fear of the unpredictable future that any audience member, no matter what her nationality might be, can strongly empathize. And as both works reflect Japan's relationship with the US especially since World War II, a foreign audience can not help comparing 3/11 to 8/45 and realizing that their effects on contemporary Japan are a great deal more than what we have read and watched in other media. Besides, after I returned home and suffered from the Thai government's poor crisis management, I could not help thinking back to the Japanese counterpart and how it would have performed differently. And so although the subject matters of both works are specific to post-3/11 Japan, I feel that they are also universal enough to be comprehended, appreciated and pondered upon by audiences overseas.

The English translation on the TV screen, with complete text for the former and partial for the latter, effectively helped a non-Japanese speaking audience like myself follow the dramatic actions. Actually, the latter also provided a hand-out with useful background information that's specific to the context of the play. And after 10 days at Festival d'Avignon this summer, it's become a new habit to ask for an English synopsis at the press service desk and occasionally, in some F/T productions, they even provided a full script in English for further study.

Also inspired by the Great East Japan Earthquake is Takuya Murakawa's "Zeitgeber", in which a random audience member is invited onto the stage to portray a paralyzed person and to be taken care of, physically and mentally, by the lone performer for more than an hour. It's noteworthy that in the performance I went the volunteer audience was not Japanese and with the help of her Japanese friend she understood the conditions set by the director and the performance proceeded smoothly. It's a truly intriguing experience to witness a special human relationship on stage that's unscripted and unpredictable. Thanks in major part to the performer's utmost sincerity in his selfless dedication, this performance proves again that mundane can be beautiful. After returning to my homecountry and yet without a house to go back to, I have felt, in time of troubles, there is more care from strangers than I ever thought possible. And in the age and time when we can become friends quickly and simply by clicking "Accept" on facebook, even though we have never met each other in person, sometimes it's those friends who are not even on our social networks who can actually lend their helping hands.

Both Korean artist Geumhyung Jeong, of Golden Puppet troupe, and French counterpart Phia Ménard, of Compagnie Non Nova, in their solo performances namely and respectively "Oil Pressure Vibrator" and "P.P.P." deal with subject matters that other media may deem too controversial - correspondingly, sexual independence and identity. While Jeong makes deft use of pre-recorded video footage that walks the line between reality and fiction in her matter-of-factly powerpoint presentation to deliver her messages, it's visual metaphor of ice balls melting, dropping and being juggled that prove Ménard's points. Actually, Jeong's documentary style is quite similar to that of China's LANDSTAGING Theatre Company in their investigation on the effects of dam construction in "River! River! River!" As it shows human's flawed attempt to alter and control the environment for the sake of excessive economic growth, I cannot help relating it to the water mismanagement that has recently resulted in the uncontrollable deluge in my homecountry.

Another proof that what's ordinary in life can be - after having been processed through keen eyes and sharp minds of playwright and director - extraordinary on stage is Hirata's "Citizens of Seoul", the first work in his pentalogy that shows political, social and cultural relationship between Korea and Japan. And when spoken words are taken out of theatre like in Korean director Ara Kim's revival of Japanese playwright Shogo Ohta's "The Sand Station", the audience's imagination is being freed as we watch the slow, yet never boring, movements of actors, not dancers, that look frequently like dance movements, feel their emotions and even hear their silent dialogues.

By considerable contrast, Pure BANANA Girls Class's "BANAGAKU★☆Super Spunky Sports Autumn Grand Tournament!!!!!" and lolo's endless summer, both dealing with Japanese subcultures, probably do not have foreign audiences in mind. Even though the roof-raising energy of the two tightly knit ensembles are more than impressive, I wish there were either English surtitles or, more significantly perhaps, additional background information on the subcultures they drew upon. And this is a person who grew up reading manga and watching anime, and watching his many students doing cosplay complaining.

Finally, as my students and friends keep asking when I will start writing food reviews, I submit here a food analogy.

Food sections at two department stores at the Ikebukuro Station, which I frequented an hour before their closing times for my favourite sushi and sashimi at big discounts, feature mostly Japanese food in contrast to a few Chinese, Indian, Korean and Vietnamese delicacies - and no Thai, and one floor up in the bakery section, customers can enjoy well-known French brands of patisserie, which perhaps explains why a bustling rue within walking distance of the Palais Garnier in the French capital is lined up with several Japanese restaurants.

By contrast, some of my Japanese friends and colleagues are surprised to find that there are numerous Japanese restaurants - including some truly authentic ones visited more by Japanese expatriates - in Thailand. They are also amazed that an average Thai person knows how to enjoy sushi as you can now find it in almost every market and there is at least one Japanese restaurant in every department store, which is perhaps just like the fact that most Thais and many Asians know "Doraemon" and "Oshin" which may surprise many Japanese people.

Through the Emerging Artists Programme, F/T is indeed connecting more with Asia, yet the rest of Asia seems to have known more about Japan than the other way around. And so after showing glimpse of what's currently happening in contemporary Asian theatre - through one Chinese, two Korean and one Singaporean works in F/T11 - a question is perhaps what can be the next phase of F/T's acquaintance with Asia. Judging from the current number, it looks as if F/T's scope of Asia is rather limited to East Asia which Japan has had long relationship with. And so with more financial support, F/T should be able to present more works from farther parts of Asia that the Japanese audiences are not yet familiar with. Also, for the Main Programme, and in consideration of increasing interest among festivals around the world to co-commission intercultural collaboration works, the models already used in "Kokashita", "Nogyo Shojo" and "Akaoni" seem to be effective as they benefit both the artists and audiences of both countries, and hence should be re-considered by F/T and, of course, the financial and administrative supporters.

Anyhow, it's already evident that F/T is on the right track and I am sure that I am not the only non-Japanese speaking visitor who looks forward to re-visiting this "performing arts festival launching from Tokyo" again.