The value of children’s theatre
‘If Thailand does indeed give value to children, who are the future of this country, why has there never been a full-scale international festival for children and young people?”
This is a question posed by the organisers of the first ever Bangkok International Children’s Theatre Festival (BICT Fest), which starts on June 21 and runs until July 3 at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. Indeed there hasn’t been any such event before; the closest we have got is a handful of performances for children — storytelling or puppet shows — which make up only a small section of the annual Bangkok Theatre Festival.
“The idea originated last year,” said festival producer Pavinee Samakkabutr. “We know quite a few theatre troupes in Europe whose only focus is theatre-making for children and we realise that there aren’t a lot of those in Thailand.”
This may well be one of the most promising and rewarding endeavours we have seen in the arts of late. A common complaint is that cultural projects that aren’t traditional arts, such as khon, are often overlooked by the state. For BICT Fest, despite support by the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre and Japan Foundation Bangkok, the organisers have managed to come up with only 50% of the total funds of 6 million baht. For this reason, the festival recently launched a fundraising campaign on international crowdfunding site Indiegogo.
“We believe that this type of project has to happen now, and it will definitely prove rewarding for the children, the public and society,” said Pavinee. “No matter how hard we tried we just couldn’t find the answer as to why we get no support from the state. That’s why we think perhaps crowdfunding, reaching the public directly, is our only way to go.”
The festival will offer eight performances by troupes from six countries, and also workshops and forums for children, their families, and those who work with children and young people. Even though there are many groups in Thailand who do theatre-making for children, Pavinee said the festival aims to offer a variety of approaches as to how this type of theatre can be done. For example, the audience for the interactive performance AliBaBach by Companhia de Musica Teatral from Portugal, one of the international groups joining the festival, is strictly for babies, from newborns up to 18-months-old.
Other theatre companies participating include Kaiji Moriyama from Japan, Theatre Rites from the UK, The Key Theatre from Israel and Wanderingmoon Theatre, Kid Jam and B-Floor from Thailand.
Pavinee added that whether the crowdfunding will reach the target or not, the festival is still definitely taking place, but that means organisers will have to take care of the costs themselves and, most importantly, it’s unlikely that there will be a second edition of the festival next year.