{"id":575,"date":"2025-05-26T19:49:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T19:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/31\/?p=575"},"modified":"2025-07-01T18:02:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T18:02:20","slug":"pot-of-chaos-young-critics-discussing-juggle-and-hide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/31\/pot-of-chaos-young-critics-discussing-juggle-and-hide\/","title":{"rendered":"Pot of Chaos: Young Critics Discussing Juggle and Hide<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Young Critics<\/strong>*<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BIPAM Festival, Bangkok, Thailand, March 2025. Juggle and Hide, <\/em>concept and direction Wichaya Artamat. Pathipon (Miss Oat), text by Wichaya Artamat, Pornpan Arayaveerasid, Rueangrith Suntisuk.  Art and technical direction by Yuya Tsukahara. Dramaturg Araki Masamitsu.Sound design and operation by Laphonphat Duongploy. Mechanics creation by Piti Boonsom, Monthira Jamsri. Technical operation by Surat Kaewseekarm. Object operation and stage management Toru Koda. Sound engineer Thongchai Pimapunsri. Project management Sasapin Siriwanij. Producer Carina Chotirawi. soi squad: English Translation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instructor\u2019s Introduction<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Hana Strej\u010dkov\u00e1<\/strong> (Czech Republic)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The award-winning, internationally collaborative project Juggle and Hide<\/em>, presented at BIPAM festival in Bangkok, sparked lively discussions among the young critics who attended the IATC\/AITC workshop. This article is the result. At the same time, it underlines and affirms the diversity of vision and critical thinking. Capturing the events we have all seen, it both highlights the multilayered nature of the work and allows for the specificities of writing about theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Juggle and Hide<\/em>, a co-production with Kyoto Experiment and the Japan Foundation has already been performed in Kyoto (2023) and Taiwan (2024), and in 2025 returned to Bangkok\u2014the very place where the meanings hidden within these “things” originated\u2014as the opening performance of BIPAM2025. Photo: Dithawat Paisarnthanachok<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Qiao Zhangweijing <\/strong>(China): <\/strong>Juggle and Hide<\/em> is documentary theatre that explores themes of time and memory. The creator utilizes a table as a stage for the presentation of personal experiences and historical and political events in Thailand, meticulously arranging various items. Concurrently, a series of miniature trains, equipped with cameras, pass over the table. This integration of visual elements along with the auditory narrative constitutes the essence of the documentary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria Ibrishimova<\/strong> (Bulgaria): <\/strong>A screen, two surfaces with rails and a camera that records the view from above. A theatrical installation without actors, but with people who control mechanisms. There is no plot, there is only the history of Thailand, which is difficult to follow for foreigners who do not have an idea about the context. At the very beginning of the screen there is a projected arrow that resembles a timeline. The surfaces gradually accumulate with different objects until the field is completely filled. And then chaos sets in\u2014disturbing and oppressive. This insane technological structure takes us through the memory of time by reviving all the objects on the stage. It is overloaded, shining and noisy. The system explodes, only the ruin remains. Juggle and Hide<\/em> is a political performance which provokes the mind and definitely leaves you with mixed feelings about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanapat Wongwisit <\/strong>(Thailand): <\/strong>The performance unfolds in two parts: the first explores fragments of personal memory combined with the political history of Thailand. In the second part, the objects on the table begin to disrupt the director\u2019s intended meanings, almost as if they are liberating themselves from the constraints of the existing social order. It\u2019s kind of weird that the title Juggle and Hide<\/em> resembles Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde<\/em>\u2014it\u2019s an insane parody. In the classic story, a man who seeks to create a better drug ends up turning into a monster that destroys him. The director Wichaya Artamat\u2019s work somehow follows the same pattern, where objects from memories\u2014or representations of those objects\u2014begin to revolt against their creator. They glorify themselves, compete over virtue, and create chaos on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Juggle and Hide<\/em> is a non-human performance which deconstructs and rebuilds narratives raising questions about power, perception and agency, in theatre as well as in society. Photo: Dithawat Paisarnthanachok<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Elizabete \u0160iklova <\/strong>(Latvia): <\/strong>But, how to write about a performance, a kinetic installation that moves fast, becomes disturbing and abandons the spectator, and the world that it creates leads to destruction. During the show Juggle and Hide<\/em> the audience’s attention is overloaded with visuality, which is the main medium especially for any non-speaker of Thai. The train wagons get fuller and fuller until the content starts dripping out of wagons. Whichaya Artamat and the production team are in the role of silent creators of a work of art, of a new world, whose final touch is left for the spectator, who has to decide which pieces to take with him. The train ride through Whichaya’s life and personally important historical events end in a moment of today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria Ibrishimova<\/strong> (Bulgaria): Is it a robotic installation or a theatre performance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lachezar Yordanov<\/strong> (Bulgaria): Hundreds of cables are laid out all over the stage, with some cameras. Above them were two large tables with small railroad tracks on them and musical instruments scattered around them. Everything happens too fast, too chaotically. Some hands were constantly lifting up a puppet and six people were simultaneously putting some kind of stuff on stage. This vague combination didn’t convey information, but made confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anastasia Chernetsova <\/strong>(Georgia): This documentary summary of Thai history is first of all juggling with the audience. Spectators observe how an overwhelming number of objects appear on the table, like in the Georgian national dish ajapsandali, as there are many ingredients in it, and similarly, the performance is made up of a variety of elements.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Between freedom of speech in international spaces and non-freedom in the author\u2018s own home. Photo: Dithawat Paisarnthanachok<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Qiao Zhangweijing<\/strong> (China): The creator’s extensive use of material, related to preparing a “hot pot,” serves to present a comprehensive blend of personal sentiments, historical imprints, and the fervour of social transformation to the audience in a single experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luk\u00e1\u0161 Cenker <\/strong>(Czech Republic): The narrator of Juggle and Hide<\/em>, an o<\/em>bscure playground in a sense of history, introduced us to some main parts of Thailand\u2019s modern history. He talked about strikes, police and government brutality and about the citizens, who were abandoned by the whole world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ya\u015fam \u00d6zlem G\u00fclseven <\/strong>(T\u00fcrkiye): The whole collection of objects, messy toys, documents moved by the people on the stage came alive at the end of the performance and moved on their own. It became very exhausting to follow the performance among the many distracting images. Although the director’s audio recording, which established the verbal narrative of the performance in an ironic language, determined a follow-up line from time to time, it created an overwhelming process in the audience’s reception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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