On a roll

On the surface, La Fete looks like a contemporary arts festival, but dig a bit deeper and you'll find a bulging programme that has something for everyone - not just the artsy crowd. Two recent stage performances prove the point.

Thinking inside the box

A few minutes after taking our seats and being enveloped in total darkness, the audience at Aksra Theatre watched as a tall, sinewy figure appeared faintly before us, perching on the arm of a chair. The lights grew stronger, signalling the start of "Press" — the one and only solo dance show in this year's La Fete—by Pierre Rigal, who sprang briskly to his feet.

For the next hour, all the action was confined to a small, prison cell-like cube raised a few metres off the stage and hovering against the black-curtained backdrop.

Rigal, dressed in a crisp black suit, began an expert routine of contrasting jerky steps and fluid moves. A robotic arm appeared, and Rigal became a vulnerable human defending himself against the invasion by technology.

At other moments the French artist seemed to have succumbed, flinging his arms around robotically as if being manipulated by a magnetic field.

To the beat of Nihil Bordures' pulsating electro soundscape, the ceiling periodically descended, threatening to squish Rigal and forcing him to continually writhe and twist for space. Meanwhile, the walls of his cell were splashed with foreboding shadows.

The metaphor of man's private struggle for space against the overwhelming forces of a mechanical world was beautifully and intensely conveyed. Though technological advancements are supposed to have freed us into a world of comfort, Rigal's poetic performance underlined the endless sense of restriction, restraint and repression of modern life. 

The following day I took a holiday from the theatre and found myself sitting in a taxi in the middle of a Bangkok jam.

After being wedged in traffic outside the Police General Hospital for almost an hour, I needed to answer a call of nature. Luckily enough I was able to release myself from the seatbelt -- and then from my bodily urge after successfully locating the loo in the hospital.

Sipping iced tea bought from a street vendor I slipped back into the still stationary taxi and turned to check if the cabby was still sane. The action of "Press" suddenly came flooding back into my brain, superimposed on my poor chauffeur who looked ready to commit murder to enjoy the escape I'd just had.

Classical delights

A few days later at the Thailand Cultural Centre, Alain Paris brought down his baton for major works by Berlioz, Grieg, Dvorak, Faure, Mozart, Gounod and Bizet in a programme that tested the talents of the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra and the voice of the guest soprano Karen Vourc'h.

The BSO sounded and looked rather tense in Berlioz's overture to "Beatrice et Benedict" before running into another obstacle in the form of the Cultural Centre's acoustics.

For Grieg's "Ich Liebe Dich, Op 5, No 3", the challenge for the French conductor was to find the right balance between the orchestra and soprano. However, the maestro showed quick wits to adjust for "Ein Schwan in F Major, Op 25, No 2", and "Ein Traum in Db Major, Op 48, No 6".

Meanwhile, Vourc'h was pulling off a balancing act of her own, singing while interpreting the action in beautifully expressive actions. She seemed to take the lead in loosening up the musicians, contributing to one of the evening's high points - the aria "Song to the Moon" from the opera "Rusalka".

And the fun continues…

La Fete continues until October 16. After June's glut of theatre and film, visual arts take centre stage for the next three and a half months. Two exhibitions revealing the Thai side of the festival are highlights in July.

Running until August 10 at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre is "Nice to Meet You", a collaborative exhibition of photographs by Thai Michael Shaowanasai and Frenchman Pascal Blondeau.

Then, from July 31 to September 30 at the National Museum, we get the chance to view masterpieces from a major period in our history in the show "Dvaravati: To the Origins of Buddhism in Thailand", curated by Guimet Museum's Pierre Baptiste and Thierry Zephir.

More details are at www.LaFete-Bangkok.com.