Published on June 13, 2005

Contemporary Thai theatre gets a boost with two new, though rather modest, venues

One of the major problems in the development of contemporary Thai theatre is the lack of venues. We’re especially missing out on medium-sized theatres – of 300 to 500 seats – with flexible stage configurations that would create a variable aesthetic distance between the performers and the audience, while allowing space for some spectacle.

Neither of Bangkok’s two newly opened playhouses falls into this dream category. And yet they are able to showcase significant works by two professional companies to their fullest capacity and against all the limitations, due to the able hands and minds behind them.

Taking an elevator from the underground car park at Metropolis, one may have a problem finding the “Bangkok Theatre”. But once you reach the fifth floor, the public announcements will guide you in the right direction – box office on that floor, souvenir programmes available on the sixth, and the entrance on the seventh.

After 54 performances, many of which were sold out, “On-La-Mhan Lhang Barn Sai Thong” seems to have been a good pick to kick-start the new venue for Dream Box (formerly DASS Entertainment).

Daraka Wongsiri’s masterly adaptation, and hybridisation, of Michael Frayn’s classic behind-the-scenes British farce “Noises Off” and Kor Surangkannang’s classic Thai novel “Barn Sai Thong”, is still fresh with tasteful jokes, plus sharp bites and jabs at the Thai entertainment scene.

For example, the playwright wittily reveals why Seiki Oseki was cast as the leading man in “Chai Klang” by adding some jokes right at the beginning.

Meanwhile, director Suwandee Chakraworavudh moves the show swiftly as always, and deftly blocks the actors with the theatre’s limited sight lines in mind.

The regular cast members – Atcharaphan Phaiboonsuwan, Yanee Tramoj and Kor Kamolpatana – are on top form. From the moment the lights fade and the audience sees Atcharaphan’s face, we know that the next two and a half hours will be a comic thrill ride.

In contrast, the newcomers – Khem-absorn Sirisukha and Worarit Fuang-arom – don’t have the same range as the seasoned cast. They often look and sound like the leading man and woman we’ve seen on TV, yet these stage roles require much more.

Judging from the constant laughter of the 35-per-cent capacity crowd at last Sunday’s matinee, and the smiles on their faces afterwards, it seems like Bangkok’s commercial theatre has found a new home, and we can expect more in the months to come.

Already scheduled for next month is a revival of the suspenseful drama “Ku-lhab See Luad”.

After presenting productions of social satires at various venues, Nikorn Saetang and his theatre 8X8 have found a new home at “8X8 Corner”, a three-floor shop house in Sarm Yarn Market, next door to a local favourite bakery Ton Kok.

Downstairs is a cafeteria and a small massage parlour, while the third floor has been transformed into a long, narrow performing space. With a single row of seats down both sides, the traverse stage is set for their new social play “Beauty to Hell”, written and directed by Nikorn. Adapted from Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People”, the play fits right into the Otop era and the age of beauty enhancement.

The well-honed energy of the 10-member ensemble, a mix of stage veterans and new faces, deliver the play’s messages. Perhaps, as a result, two mornings later when a guest celebrity starts to tell a supposedly true story on how she has clean and clear skin on a morning TV show, I switch to watch billiards on ESPN.

The lease for Bangkok Theatre is year-by-year, and that of 8X8 Corner is month-by-month. It’s unfortunate that the size of the city’s much-anticipated newest and grandest playhouse, the Siam Opera, may be too grand for type of plays by these two – and many other – companies.

Let us hope, and pray, that the expansion of the Thailand Cultural Centre, or even the Bangkok Art Museum, would have some spaces for these stalwarts of contemporary Thai theatre.

Pawit Mahasarinand

The Nation

The writer can be contacted at Pawit.M@chula.ac.th.

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