Dialogue Theatre is a form of socially-engaged performance developed by the Makhampom Theatre Group, in collaboration with directors and theatre-makers Jon Pongjit and Richard Barber.

Dialogue Theatre was created with the intention of building safe spaces for deep listening, reflection, and transformative dialogue especially in contexts marked by conflict, marginalization, or silence. Dialogue Theatre is not just about watching a play; it is about co-existing in a shared space of questions, where both performers and audience members step into a mutual process of witnessing, vulnerability, and collective meaning-making.

The process often begins with real-life stories gathered through community conversations. These stories told by stateless youth, refugees, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ communities, and those affected by systemic injustice form the core of the performance. Rather than imposing scripts, the team co-creates the performance with those who live the experiences. After the performance, a facilitated deep dialogue session invites the audience to reflect not to judge, but to understand. Audience members are not passive spectators but active participants in a shared emotional and intellectual journey.

Dialogue Theatre has since expanded internationally, especially through the work of Free Theatre, a platform founded by Jon Pongjit and Richard Barber in Australia to further the use of theatre as a tool for transformation. Both Jon and Richard have worked with Makhampom for over 25 years, serving as artistic directors, facilitators, and co-creators of participatory theatre projects. Today, Jon serves as Artistic Director of Free Theatre while continuing to collaborate closely with communities in Chiang Dao through residencies, training programs, and Dialogue Theatre labs.

What sets Dialogue Theatre apart is its commitment to genuine listening in a world often filled with noise, interruption, and speaking over one another. Performances are designed to be honest, vulnerable, and respectful, using symbols, silence, physical movement, and layered storytelling to invite deep reflection. The goal is not to provide answers but to open space for new questions to emerge.

Examples of past productions include Shadow of the Moon, Drama Sunjon, Holding Time, The Voice, Watch Me Breathe, and The Overlapping, each one an invitation to explore the space between art, community, and structural change.

For Makhampom and the Free Theatre team, Dialogue Theatre is not just an artistic methodology, it is a philosophy of living together, of transforming conflict through empathy, and of practicing humanity through deep listening. As they believe, understanding cannot be achieved through reason alone. It requires space. It requires presence. And Dialogue Theatre offers one such space, where people can meet, reflect, and begin again together.