Bangkok Theatre Festival shows good promise for the future

Quantity aside, quality also exceeded expectation at this year's festival, "Theatre Sparks Life". Many theatre productions that had recently been staged outside the festival made memorable revivals during the festival. New works, especially by well-established troupes, made strong debuts and will soon be re-staged elsewhere.

The organising team, Naked Masks Network and Bangplay, both long-time members of the Bangkok Theatre Network (BTN), showed better management skills. For the first time, the festival's newsletter was published weeks ahead of the opening weekend and could be picked up at many coffee shops and theatres.

Also for the first time, the festival had a "dot-com" home page at www.BangkokTheatreFestival.com. The website was regularly updated both before and during the festival and served as a strong link between the BTF and audiences. However, some surfers complained that the main page was overfilled with words and lacking in photos and images, which would probably have attracted more attention. Members of the media also commented that the press section, or media room, had not been updated and they could not conveniently download information and photos. Expat and international audiences also found that not all information on the website had been translated into English.

Another new development was the festival's partnership with a telecommunications company, which allowed advance ticket reservation by mobile phone in addition to advance ticket purchases at the company's many outlets. Still, those who had already paid for tickets at these outlets had to wait in line at the venue to change their receipts into tickets.

Even though the centre of the festival remains at Santi Chaiprakarn Park, the BTF branched out to more venues across the city than ever before. Some people found it much more convenient to take a train to and from Lido than an express boat, which runs until 7pm only, to Phra Athit pier and then take a bus or a taxi home. Parking spaces along Phra Athit Road were also limited.

Audiences and artists have learned that outdoor stages, despite better sound and lighting equipment this year, do not fit all kinds of productions. Neither do small cafes and restaurants along Phra Athit Road. With this, and the fact that most people want to watch more than one performance in an area, the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre seems to be a good solution and probably a second hub for next year's festival.

At last Sunday's talk on the development of the BTF - organised by the Performing Arts Academics Network of Thailand who also held post-show talks after many festival performances - Pradit Prasartthong, the artistic director of the first BTF, suggested that future festivals might be separated into two parts. While the free-admission and youth theatre programmes, which have received financial support from the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, might remain at the riverside park, productions by professional troupes should be held at other venues.

The festival this year, adopting the "No Alcohol, No Smoking" policy, had to decline a larger sponsorship sum from a major beer company. By splitting the festival into two sections, Pradit noted, they could have taken cheques from both the foundation and the beer company and held an even larger and better festival that would have drawn more public attention.

Another major problem is audience numbers. Except for the second weekend, when politics took centre stage, Santi Chaiprakarn Park was crowded through the remaining three weeks. But elsewhere, notably during my visit to two plays at the Naked Masks Playhouse in Phya Thai Plaza, I found the numbers in the audience less than that of the actors on stage. This was not the case, though, for performances at Makhampom Studio and Crescent Moon Space, as, perhaps, there is more to see and do, and eat, around the Saphan Kwai and Thonglor areas.

Lido, a new partner that was very generous in lowering the rental fee, also encountered some problems. Ticket sales were much lower than expected. This is partly because the Bt500 admission was expensive for many; audiences were not used to the new venue, and the cinema also screened movies during the day, making the daily programme a little confusing, with less time for performance set-up.

On the bright side, the festival organiser encouraged participating troupes to adopt a student pricing policy, and almost all complied. Not only is the 50-per-cent discount both reasonable and affordable, it also helps develop audiences for the future - those who, in the next few years, will be able to afford the full price anyway.

The press could also lend more of a helping hand here. Although coverage of the BTF08 press conference and opening weekend was more extensive than in previous years, that of the second, third and fourth weeks was quite limited.

Another hope for the future is that the BTF becomes an international festival in which local troupes still remain in the majority. Many local troupes have already been in contact and collaboration with overseas counterparts. Given the fringe nature of the festival and the international nature of Bangkok's arts and culture scene, this should and could be realised. Of course, more financial and administrative support from international cultural agencies and embassies is necessary for this next phase.

The Bangkok Theatre Festival will return next November. Another group will come in to play host, and let's hope that they learn from this year's problems and make adjustments. In the meantime, theatre is being put on almost every weekend in Bangkok. Although most productions cannot afford to buy advertisements in newspapers or rent a roadside billboard, the quality and variety of these small-scale productions are the lifeblood of contemporary Thai theatre. It's the audience's role - and a fun one indeed - to keep it circulating.