- G
- M
- A
Please help us continue to invent theatre and build audiences in Myanmar.
Hello, I am Ruth Pongstaphone , director and cofounder of the New Yangon Theatre Institute (NYTI) in Myanmar. We are a collective of theatre artists who engage in making and performing original works as a mode of social activism. We have formed “a grass roots, non-profit, civil society organization led by artists, educators, and students who believe that contemporary theatre can play a vital role in the development of an actively engaged, socially aware, and culturally tolerant society.”
Background
NYTI is the result of an ongoing collaborative effort un
dertaken between myself, assoc. dir. May Thet Zaw, and the members of our performing ensemble. The core members of our performing ensemble have been training, making performances, and building audiences together for 11 years. When we met in 2008, our work was limited to private spaces as it was impossible to make a performance in a public space in Myanmar due to laws against public gatherings. Because there were 60 years of military rule during which theatre could not develop in Myanmar society, we are challenged and inspired by the task of inventing socially relevant contemporary theatre and encouraging audiences to participate in public dialogue. Since the changes brought about by the transition to civilian rule in 2011, we have created and performed 5 full length original plays including:
-“No Longer/…/Not Yet”, an intergenerational work of documentary theatre about transitions in Myanmar past and present.
-“Inside the Dollhouse,” an exploration of Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll’s House,” reinvented as the story of a young woman in Myanmar society.
-“Antigone…Antagonist?” An adaptation of Bertolt’s Brecht’s “Antigone,” examining greed, conflict, violence, mob justice, and scapegoating as omnipresent elements of ongoing civil war.
-“Roadmap 2015,” a work of documentary theatre about the struggle for democracy and the 2015 general election, based on the novella “Roadmap” by Dr. Ma Thida Sanchaung.
-“The Grand Balcony” an original new play that explores the human preference for the security of illusions and the willingness to pay for them. Inspired by “The Balcony,” by Jean Genet. Performed at Myan/art gallery.
In addition to our plays, we have also produced numerous workshops, outreach programs, and community events. Our aspiration is to make contemporary theatre an event that brings people together as community in dialogue. We are based in Yangon, but we have worked in urban and rural communities different regions of the country. We work with diverse groups including, journalists, incarcerated youth, migrant communities, environmental activists, and social science students. We have helped to train NGO workers, teachers, and other community members in the use of applied theatre as a tool for education and healing. We aim to build audiences and nurture more makers of socially conscious contemporary theatre throughout Myanmar.
Our Big New Opportunity!
This year we have been invited to travel to Bangkok to perform “The Grand Balcony” in the Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting 2019 (BIPAM) conference . This is the first opportunity we have been offered to present our work abroad. We are excited because we feel that “The Grand Balcony” is a performance that resonates at this time for audiences all around Southeast Asia and beyond and we are very curious to engage in a dialogue with a new audience. We look forward to an interface with peer artists from other countries. We are ready to share our knowledge and to learn from this great experience with others. However, we are now challenged to prepare for our performance in Bangkok, as well as, a full season of local programming ahead and our resources are strained.
-We are a collective of citizen artists. We do not make profits or salaries from our work.
-We do not receive financial sponsorship or support beyond the donations we receive from our audiences.
-Our voices as artists are those of working people who have other regular jobs.
-Our inspirations come from our lives and the lives of the others around us.
As citizen artists we dedicate ourselves to our work because we enjoy the type of community it inspires around us. Therefore our budgets have always been limited to what we can make with what we have and what our audiences wish to give us.
Current Situation
BIPAM has generously provided us with a budget that is to cover our expenses to bring our performance to Bangkok. Yet, we are large performing ensemble of 17 cast members who must travel from Myanmar. Thus due to the rising costs of airfare and general inflation in Southeast Asia, our present budget can barely cover our travel and accommodation for the days that we will be performing in Bangkok.
We are presently seeking $2,170 to help fund our preparations and performances of “The Grand Balcony” in Bangkok Oct 17 & 18 @BIPAM, and in Yangon Oct 26 @Myanmart Gallery. Our expenses include; transportation, facilities, accommodation, and food during our rehearsal and preparations. We hope it will also cover any overage in travel expenses that might arise due to ticket prices or other unforeseen financial circumstances.
Our seasons typically runs for 6 months from October thru March. During this time we generate one full length original play, as well as, several open workshops, outreach projects and other events. A full season of expenses for our projects typically costs approximately $9,600 USD. To successfully complete our full season of projects this year, beyond the $2170 we need to raise for our preparation of “The Grand Balcony,” we still need another $4000. Our efforts this year are directed toward developing several new and ongoing key projects including:
-“The Disinherited Farmer,” a project with different rural communities that uses theatre as a mode of participatory embodied narrative research to explore the story of development in rural areas with close attention to the factors of environmental degradation, economic dislocation, and urban migration from farming village to factory towns.
-“Yangon Bla Bla,” a new ensemble theatre work about democracy, human nature, intercultural understandings and the translation of meaning. Inspired by R. W. Fassbinder’s play, “Blood on the Cat’s Neck.”
-TYA Networking and Practitioner Workshops for educators, social workers and mental Health professionals. To promote theatre for youth education and healing.
-“Readings for a Society of New Thinkers,” Dramatic readings series exploring works of contemporary social activist playwrights representing cultural minority perspectives.
-“Image of Woman,” performance event and art exhibition presenting new works about the image of woman and how women are portrayed in contemporary society in Myanmar and beyond.
It is daunting to begin a big season of work on several projects when staring in a deficit. We are deeply grateful for any donations to help our work continue.
Thank you
For more information about us please see:
New Yangon Theatre Institute Facebook page
New Yangon Theatre Institute Wordpress
Other Links to Presentations of Works:
“The Grand Balcony”
“Antigone…Antagonist?”
“Roadmap 2015”
“the Women”
https://vimeo.com/242495034
*All donations are handled through the private non-profit educational organization, Dhamma Theatre West inc. The is a non-profit facilitating organization, it is not registered as a 501c3.
Hello, I am Ruth Pongstaphone , director and cofounder of the New Yangon Theatre Institute (NYTI) in Myanmar. We are a collective of theatre artists who engage in making and performing original works as a mode of social activism. We have formed “a grass roots, non-profit, civil society organization led by artists, educators, and students who believe that contemporary theatre can play a vital role in the development of an actively engaged, socially aware, and culturally tolerant society.”
Background
NYTI is the result of an ongoing collaborative effort un
dertaken between myself, assoc. dir. May Thet Zaw, and the members of our performing ensemble. The core members of our performing ensemble have been training, making performances, and building audiences together for 11 years. When we met in 2008, our work was limited to private spaces as it was impossible to make a performance in a public space in Myanmar due to laws against public gatherings. Because there were 60 years of military rule during which theatre could not develop in Myanmar society, we are challenged and inspired by the task of inventing socially relevant contemporary theatre and encouraging audiences to participate in public dialogue. Since the changes brought about by the transition to civilian rule in 2011, we have created and performed 5 full length original plays including:
-“No Longer/…/Not Yet”, an intergenerational work of documentary theatre about transitions in Myanmar past and present.
-“Inside the Dollhouse,” an exploration of Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll’s House,” reinvented as the story of a young woman in Myanmar society.
-“Antigone…Antagonist?” An adaptation of Bertolt’s Brecht’s “Antigone,” examining greed, conflict, violence, mob justice, and scapegoating as omnipresent elements of ongoing civil war.
-“Roadmap 2015,” a work of documentary theatre about the struggle for democracy and the 2015 general election, based on the novella “Roadmap” by Dr. Ma Thida Sanchaung.
-“The Grand Balcony” an original new play that explores the human preference for the security of illusions and the willingness to pay for them. Inspired by “The Balcony,” by Jean Genet. Performed at Myan/art gallery.
In addition to our plays, we have also produced numerous workshops, outreach programs, and community events. Our aspiration is to make contemporary theatre an event that brings people together as community in dialogue. We are based in Yangon, but we have worked in urban and rural communities different regions of the country. We work with diverse groups including, journalists, incarcerated youth, migrant communities, environmental activists, and social science students. We have helped to train NGO workers, teachers, and other community members in the use of applied theatre as a tool for education and healing. We aim to build audiences and nurture more makers of socially conscious contemporary theatre throughout Myanmar.
Our Big New Opportunity!
This year we have been invited to travel to Bangkok to perform “The Grand Balcony” in the Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting 2019 (BIPAM) conference . This is the first opportunity we have been offered to present our work abroad. We are excited because we feel that “The Grand Balcony” is a performance that resonates at this time for audiences all around Southeast Asia and beyond and we are very curious to engage in a dialogue with a new audience. We look forward to an interface with peer artists from other countries. We are ready to share our knowledge and to learn from this great experience with others. However, we are now challenged to prepare for our performance in Bangkok, as well as, a full season of local programming ahead and our resources are strained.
-We are a collective of citizen artists. We do not make profits or salaries from our work.
-We do not receive financial sponsorship or support beyond the donations we receive from our audiences.
-Our voices as artists are those of working people who have other regular jobs.
-Our inspirations come from our lives and the lives of the others around us.
As citizen artists we dedicate ourselves to our work because we enjoy the type of community it inspires around us. Therefore our budgets have always been limited to what we can make with what we have and what our audiences wish to give us.
Current Situation
BIPAM has generously provided us with a budget that is to cover our expenses to bring our performance to Bangkok. Yet, we are large performing ensemble of 17 cast members who must travel from Myanmar. Thus due to the rising costs of airfare and general inflation in Southeast Asia, our present budget can barely cover our travel and accommodation for the days that we will be performing in Bangkok.
We are presently seeking $2,170 to help fund our preparations and performances of “The Grand Balcony” in Bangkok Oct 17 & 18 @BIPAM, and in Yangon Oct 26 @Myanmart Gallery. Our expenses include; transportation, facilities, accommodation, and food during our rehearsal and preparations. We hope it will also cover any overage in travel expenses that might arise due to ticket prices or other unforeseen financial circumstances.
Our seasons typically runs for 6 months from October thru March. During this time we generate one full length original play, as well as, several open workshops, outreach projects and other events. A full season of expenses for our projects typically costs approximately $9,600 USD. To successfully complete our full season of projects this year, beyond the $2170 we need to raise for our preparation of “The Grand Balcony,” we still need another $4000. Our efforts this year are directed toward developing several new and ongoing key projects including:
-“The Disinherited Farmer,” a project with different rural communities that uses theatre as a mode of participatory embodied narrative research to explore the story of development in rural areas with close attention to the factors of environmental degradation, economic dislocation, and urban migration from farming village to factory towns.
-“Yangon Bla Bla,” a new ensemble theatre work about democracy, human nature, intercultural understandings and the translation of meaning. Inspired by R. W. Fassbinder’s play, “Blood on the Cat’s Neck.”
-TYA Networking and Practitioner Workshops for educators, social workers and mental Health professionals. To promote theatre for youth education and healing.
-“Readings for a Society of New Thinkers,” Dramatic readings series exploring works of contemporary social activist playwrights representing cultural minority perspectives.
-“Image of Woman,” performance event and art exhibition presenting new works about the image of woman and how women are portrayed in contemporary society in Myanmar and beyond.
It is daunting to begin a big season of work on several projects when staring in a deficit. We are deeply grateful for any donations to help our work continue.
Thank you
For more information about us please see:
New Yangon Theatre Institute Facebook page
New Yangon Theatre Institute Wordpress
Other Links to Presentations of Works:
“The Grand Balcony”
“Antigone…Antagonist?”
“Roadmap 2015”
“the Women”
https://vimeo.com/242495034
*All donations are handled through the private non-profit educational organization, Dhamma Theatre West inc. The is a non-profit facilitating organization, it is not registered as a 501c3.