Asia Dance Channel

A new dance theatre production inspired by TV’s ‘Big Brother’ owes something to Orwell as well.

Director and choreographer Nir de Volff has chosen Bangkok to unveil his new work, The Ministry of Truth, but it has more to do with television’s “Big Brother” than Orwell’s scary warnings about politics.

“I was inspired by what I heard about the energy of the city, even before I came here,” said the Tel Aviv-born and Berlin-based artistic director of Total Brutal Dance Company.

“People told me it’s a crazy place on a superficial level, so I was immediately attracted. Then I started reading about the history of Thailand and following the news about Bangkok. It’s not as peaceful as it seemed at first, and this is something I like dealing with—conflict.”

“Plus there’s the phenomenon of ladyboys that I’m curious to work with. It isn’t easily understood in the West.”

“I come from Tel Aviv, which is a very liberal place with many transsexuals and homosexuals, but still there’s nothing like the ladyboys there. I wonder, if Darwin were alive today, whether he’d be able to deal with such an in-between species. I thought maybe they’re the future of human beings, and that there must be something very weird or dark that would make them fit into the 'Big Brother’ realm. There’s no longer drama in reality TV: they just show extremities of human beings.”

Backed by the Goethe Institut Bangkok, de Volff has been in residence at the Patravadi Theatre since late December. His opening workshop drew 45 professional dancers and actors.

“The ladyboys were not part of the workshop, though, because of the high level of physicality I work with.”

“I think any person can move or can be moved. I believe that any person with motivation or will can go to a limit, and that’s why I work with non-dancers as well.”

“The workshop was to introduce my style of work and to open the minds of local dancers and actors who do not very often experience this very open way of work which happens mostly now in contemporary dance and theatre. It’s a bit tricky, and let’s just say it’s democracy with a dictator who gets many ideas and much information and then digests them into his own style. In the end, I don’t write my name down as the sole creator, but all of us almost equally create the work altogether.”

“I was surprised that many capable dancers here can’t just deform their bodies into the movements I work with. I ended up working with two Thai actors [with no formal dance training]. I really like it this way because it makes something really honest and meaningful from the body. So, instead of how you play with the tools, it’s how you fight with them. Then, I take it to the limit—either of energy or flexibility. ”

His six “housemates” include an Israeli dancer, an Israeli acrobat and four Thais—an acrobat and an actress from Patravadi Theatre, an actor who used to work with Scenario, and, yes, a ladyboy.

“Each has a very clear character, and it’s like a family tree, with branches that go here and there and sometimes get tangled. I want to avoid too much narrative line. It will happen in a compressed period of time, starting from A until when they leave the house. It shows how it looks, and how cultures clash, after a bunch of people go in there without knowing one another, especially when they’re coming after their own target.”

“I concentrate on the mind of these people and the way their personalities develop—their history, family, drama, etc. Almost everything that’s going to be onstage is based on their personal reality. Sometimes it’s very hard or deep, other times it’s funny, nonsensical or superficial, and that’s life.”

“Sometimes I work very openly. I say, ‘Ok, this is the situation, how would you deal with it as a normal human being? When you sing a song in the shower, do you do it just because people are watching you or differently in an honest and natural way?’ I don’t like dramas that are fake. I don’t like fakeness in general. This was, and still is, the process which never ends—how you go deeper and deeper to be honest and real on stage.”

The inspiration for Ministry came from the TV reality show “Big Brother”, though the title comes from George Orwell’s grim novel 1984, with its all-seeing government surveillance, known as Big Brother. The performance’s original title was On Air, de Volff explains.

“It's a direct reference to the sign in front of a TV studio, but I think The Ministry of Truth is more about what we’re doing here.”

The director’s approach and concept appeared innovative, but de Volff refuses to call this work “revolutionary”.

“Nobody is doing revolutions anymore, but the way I present my work, I think, is very fresh and honest.”

Veteran dancer and choreographer Jitti Chompee, the project’s co-ordinator whose effort has made possible The Ministry of Truth says, “Last year, I attended one of his classes in Amsterdam. I like his style very much and I think this work will benefit the development of contemporary dance and theatre in Thailand.”