Our History
Pongjit and Richard first collaborated in 1995 as part of the Asian touring theatre project Big Wind. Pongjit had already been working with the Makhampom Theatre Group in Thailand for 6 years and Richard with the Melbourne-based physical theatre and percussion ensemble, Gonghouse. After stints living and working together in Thailand and Australia, they established the Makhampom Art Space in northern Thailand in 2004, as a theatre community and hub for applied theatre and social enterprise initiatives. Some of the significant programs over the following 12 years included:
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designing the Makhampom Art Space as the base for one of Thailand's first social enterprise initiatives;
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the partnership with the Pang Daeng Nok stateless dara'ang community in Chiang Dao spanning youth theatre, social enterprise, ethical tourism, community organising, social circus, non-formal education, and national campaigning on ethnic rights;
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the Makhampom Study Tour, a 3-4-week long intensive immersive training in community and transformative theatre in Chiang Dao for international participants, numbering over 300 spanning the 20-years of the program, and marked by a partnership with Charles Sturt University's Theatre Media course;
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the Art of Peace project encompassing transformative theatre workshops in conflict situations (Myanmar, refugee camps, southern Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Pacifica communities), touring performances, and a training manual;
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the Dialogue Theatre project, involving the devising of the methodology with the Makhampom ensemble, national and international Dialogue Theatre performances,
How It All Started
Dialogue Theatre has been created and developed by the Makhampom Foundation in Thailand and Free Theatre in Australia.
The Makhampom Theatre Group, now Makhampom Foundation, has been engaged in applied theatre since 1980, which has included community theatre, public performance, theatre in education, international touring, Study Tour hosting, a facilitator school, social enterprise, and dialogue theatre initiatives. The dialogue theatre practice involved the coalescence of various theatre arts forms, community development, inter-cultural process, and conflict transformation methodology, applied in villages, universities, factories, prisons, schools, and war zones in Thailand and the Asia-Pacific region.
Free Theatre was founded in Melbourne in 2015 by Makhampom's Artistic Director, Pongjit Saphakhun, and International Program Director, Richard Barber, with their daughter, actor Janita Barber. The Free Theatre practice has enhanced the Dialogue Theatre technique, coalescing into a program of actor and facilitator training, community cohesion and engagement projects, and dialogue in the public sphere. This work has been focussed on difficult conversations around racism, inter-generational conflict, and stigma and discrimination in the public sector.
Visit Our Venues
Dialogue Theatre has two bases, in Melbourne, Australia and in Chiang Dao, Thailand.
Returning to Australia in 2015, the Free Theatre program included:
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Dialogue Theatre productions, Stir Fry, (multiculturalism issues) at Footscray Community Arts and Stirred Up (unconscious racial bias in schools) for University High School;
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Collaborating with Ilbijerri Theatre on the First Nations sexual health theatre work, The Score, and facilitating the Applied Theatre toolkit for the Blackwrights Masterclass;
Dialogue Theatre commissions for the following productions:
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The Art of Radical Listening Institutionalised racism) with cohealth’s Arts Gen on institutionalised racism
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Creative producer/actor, South Sudan Voice, Free Theatre dialogue theatre collaboration and regional touring with South Sudanese community artists and Victoria University on themes of youth justice and community cohesion, supported by Department of Premier and Cabinet 2016-22
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Community-driven Dialogue Theatre productions, Embrace the Future, Respect the Past on issues of inter-generational migrant trauma, City of Hobsons Bay, 2019
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Inter-generational South Sudanese Australia Digital Dialogue project, Real Mums of Sunshine, City of Brimbank, 2019-23
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Facilitator, writer & producer, African-Australian Dialogue Theatre production, Arusi - The Wedding, Me +Mental Health project, Melbourne Western Suburbs, 2019-24
Pongjit and Richard sought to explore adaptations of their practice in their return to Australia in 2015. Free Theatre was formed to share this knowledge from Thailand and the Asia-Pacific, with a focus on transferring the Dialogue Theatre practice into marginalised community contexts in Melbourne and regional Victoria.
As of 2025, Free Theatre will work from both Australia and Thailand with the intention to share the practice more widely in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.