Project outline
Theater company chelfitsch has so far had success with international collaboration projects primarily in Europe. However, in order to explore the possibilities of collaborations in Asia, instead of a European-style collaboration designed mainly to raise creative funds, the troupe will base itself in Thailand for the development of research and theater piece creation. The aim is to build a cooperative system not solely concerned with funding, in order to form a network that can be used effectively by the next generation and become a model in Southeast Asia, a region with no established platforms.

Year 1 project outline
Details
The first year consisted of research on Thailand and Indonesia, and intensive face-to-face meetings with key people. With the cooperation of Thai literary researcher Sho Fukutomi and The Japan Foundation, Bangkok, the troupe conducted in particular a wide set of interviews with the likes of Bangkok-based performers, visual artists, university teachers, publishers, translators and gallerists in an effort to map out the overall situation. To familiarize these people with chelfitsch, the troupe staged one of its representative works in Bangkok, “Premium Soft Double Vanilla Rich.”
These processes led to the troupe deciding to stage a new work being written by Thai novelist Uthis Haemamool.

Date/time: Year-round. Performances of “Premium Soft Double Vanilla Rich” held March 10-12, 2017.
Venue: Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok)

Year 2 project outline
Details
In preparation for the decision in Year 1 to stage a novel by Uthis as an international collaboration, the troupe got started with concrete creative activities, such as auditions for performers, production assistants and director’s assistants and under two weeks of rehearsals; additionally Thai artists conducted Japanese research, and research was conducted on international coproduction partners, script-writing and planning. Meanwhile the troupe’s network-building bore fruit with the staging of a recreation of“Five Days in March” in Beijing, China.

Date/time: Year-round. Performances of “Five Days in March” held January 18-20, 2018.
Venue: Inside-out Theater (Beijing)

Year 3 project outline
Details
The title of the international collaboration in Bangkok was decided as “Pratthana – A Portrait of Possession.” After the creative members were decided, they did about three months’work-in-residence in Bangkok, rolling out the trilingual Japanese/English/Thai PR program in Bangkok and Japan, and performing the world premiere in August. Reviews of the work were also translated in order to establish the response in Bangkok. In a related project “Pratthana” was also performed in Paris. The work also received the Best Play award in the IATC Thailand Dance and Theatre Awards 2018, the only performing arts award in Thailand.

Date/time: Year-round. World premiere performances of “Pratthana – A Portrait of Possession” held August 22-26, 2018 in Bangkok.
Venue: Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok)