Art Happens

This Song Father Used to Sing (Three Days in May) by Thai theatre director Wichaya Artamat zooms in on a small kitchen space in Bangkok. Here a brother and sister live through three days in May, each time in a different calendar year. They commemorate their deceased father in a traditional Chinese ceremony. They cook, eat, chat and joke about nothing in particular. Their retiring nature contrasts with the captivating and often absurd conversations they engage in. Past, present and future blend subtly and are connected to the political context of the Thai metropolis. The play shows life as it is, without drawing a veil over its alienating character. The characters’ statements do not serve any logic and neither do they lead to a clear end.

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In Los Años by Argentine theatre director Mariano Pensotti, we follow the story of architect Manuel at two points in his life: when he is 30 (in 2020) and when he is 60 (in 2050). In his younger years, Manuel films, somewhat accidentally, a child living alone in the slums of Buenos Aires who, in order to survive, has made up his own family. The documentary makes Manuel very famous in the art world. Thirty years later, Manuel goes looking for the child to see what has become of him and to make a new documentary. The journey will change his life and his idea of the future.

On stage are two actors who simultaneously portray the younger and older versions of Manuel in a duplicated scene. The performance asks a number of universal questions: What will happen to us, our cities and the people we know in 30 years’ time? What will be the future of children, especially those living in poverty? And if we knew what we will look like in the future, would we change anything about the present?

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