Idioteex

Posts Tagged ‘Thai’

Resting on the Na Phra That Road in Bangkok, adjoining the National Museum as well as the Thammasat University sits the imposing National Theater of Thailand.

Portraying Thai architecture, the theater’s facade is adorned in pastel shades, with its red roof decorated with golden eaves. The edifice is divided into 3 wings, where one wing houses a sizable auditorium and a Sala (open pavilion) where outdoor musical performances are held. Another wing has a small theater hosting small dance performances while the third wing is used for holding workshops for theater technicians.

A variety of shows are hosted in the National Theater, where the spotlight performances go to traditional Thai drama and dances including Khon dance-dramas. The highest out of the 6 forms of traditional Thai dances is the Khon dance form, where performances are mostly based on the Ramekian stories, the Thai edition of the Hindu epic – Ramayana.

The costumes and masks of the dancers are exquisitely and elaborately adorned, and becomes a spectacular sight when they dazzle under the stage lights. The Khon dance-drama incorporates a fine blend of dancing, acting, acrobatics and singing backed by fascinating native folklore music. These performances are entirely in the Thai language and usually take a longer time than other regular performances.

The theater is open to the public throughout the year and it also hosts a wide spectrum of international performances as well. If you wish to watch Thai shows in particular, you need to visit the premises on the last Fridays and Saturdays of any month. You can receive a synopsis of the drama along with the printed program schedule, especially for dramas performed only in Thai language.  Read more...

Drama
In the purely classical form, Thai drama and dance are indivisible.

The khon masked drama is derived from Indian temple rituals and dancing and draws its story lines from the Ramakien. During the Ayutthaya period, the khon was acted by accomplished male court retainers playing both male and female roles because until the 19th century the movements were thought to be too strenuous for women to perform. By the mid-1800s both men and women were appearing on stage together.

Torchlit performances were often held in palace halls and courtyards. Dispensing with complicated scenery, khon perfor-mances are characterized by vigorous, highly-formalized action. Acting and dancing are inseparable, each step having a definite meaning which is emphasized by precisely-defined music to suggest walking, marching, laughing, etc. Because actors and actresses are masked and cannot speak, narrative verses are recited and sung by a chorus that sits with the accompanying woodwind, gong and drum ensemble.

The papier mache, lacquer, gold, minutely-detailed and bejewelled masks are works of art, and perfectly portray the protagonists’ personalities. Costumes are rich brocades decorated with sparkling costume jewellery, and closely resemble the apparel adorning royalty and celestial beings in classical Thai mural paintings. Major characters are readily identifiable by the predominant colours of their costumes. Rama wears deep green, his brother, Lakshman, wears gold and Hanuman wears white.

Khon productions were originally so long – more than 20 hours – that perfor-mances were staged on two consecutive days. Indeed, a khon performance of the entire Ramakien (with 311 characters!) would take more than one month (720 hours plus!) of continuous performance. Rama II’s shorter version of the Ramakien is used for dramatic purposes and contemporary adaptations of certain episodes are as short as three hours.  Read more...