Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [52]
Lí·gair
In outlying working-class neighbourhoods in Bangkok you may be lucky enough to come across the gaudy, raucous lí·gair. This theatrical art form is thought to have descended from drama rituals brought to southern Thailand by Arab and Malay traders. The first native public performance in central Thailand came about when a group of Thai Muslims staged a lí·gair for Rama V in Bangkok during the funeral commemoration of Queen Sunandha. Lí·gair grew very popular under Rama VI, peaked in the early 20th century and has been fading slowly since the 1960s.
Most often performed at Buddhist festivals by troupes of travelling performers, lí·gair presents a colourful mixture of folk and classical music, outrageous costumes, melodrama, slapstick comedy, sexual innuendo and up-to-date commentary on Thai politics and society. Foreigners – even those who speak fluent Thai – are often left behind by the highly idiomatic, culture-specific language and gestures.
Marionettes
Lá·kon lék (little theatre), also known as hùn lo·ang (royal puppets), like khn, was once reserved for court performances. Metre-high marionettes made of kòi paper and wire, wearing elaborate costumes modelled on those of the khn, are used to convey similar themes, music and dance movements.
Two to three puppet masters are required to manipulate each hùn lo·ang by means of wires attached to long poles. Stories are drawn from Thai folk tales, particularly Phra Aphaimani, and occasionally from the Ramakian. The hùn lo·ang puppets themselves are highly collectable; the Bangkok National Museum has only one example in its collection. A smaller, 30cm court version called hùn lék (little puppets) are occasionally used in live performances.
Another Thai puppet theatre, hùn grà·bòrk (cylinder puppets) is based on popular Hainanese puppet shows. It uses 30cm hand puppets carved from wood.
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One of the sole surviving Thai puppet masters, Sakorn Yangkhiawsod (nicknamed Joe Louis) helped revive the dying hùn lék tradition in the latter half of the 20th century with his popular puppet troupe based in Bangkok. The patriarch died in 2007 but his children continue the tradition at the Aksra Theatre (Click here).
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Nng
Shadow-puppet theatre – in which two-dimensional figures are manipulated between a cloth screen and a light source at night-time performances – has been a Southeast Asian tradition for perhaps five centuries. Originally brought to the Malay Peninsula by Middle Eastern traders, the technique eventually spread to all parts of mainland and peninsular Southeast Asia; in Thailand it is mostly found in the south. As in Malaysia and Indonesia, shadow puppets in Thailand are carved from dried buffalo or cow hides (nng).
Two distinct shadow-play traditions survive in Thailand. The most common, nng à·lung, is named after Phattalung Province, where it developed around Malay models. Like their Malay-Indonesian counterparts, Thai shadow puppets represent an array of characters from classical and folk drama, principally the Ramakian and Phra Aphaimani in Thailand. A single puppet master manipulates the cut-outs, which are bound to the ends of buffalo-horn handles. Nng à·lung is still occasionally seen at temple festivals in the south, mostly in Songkhla and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces. Performances are also held periodically for tour groups or visiting dignitaries from Bangkok.
The second tradition, nng yài (big hide), uses much larger cut-outs, each bound to two wooden poles held by a puppet master; several masters may participate in a single performance. Nng yài is rarely performed nowadays because of the lack of trained nng masters and the expense of the shadow puppets. Most nng yài that are made today are sold to interior designers or tourists.
CINEMA
When it comes to Thai cinema, there are usually two concurrent streams: the movies that are financially successful and the movies that are considered cinematically meritorious; only occasionally do these overlap.
Popular Thai cinema ballooned