Lhong Luer.
It’s not until we have seen the ongoing show “Lhong”, a project comprising of five short plays, that we realise how much the space of Democrazy Theatre Studio actually has to offer. We usually just buy some beers at a little café in front and then head straight into the space inside, and that’s it.
In Lhong, however, the space is cleverly sliced up for five separate short plays; the first play is at the main stage, then we are ushered to the backroom for the second, then the reception room, then back to the main stage again before finishing the last play at an outdoor café area at the front of the space.
All plays respond to the word lhong, a Thai word which has many meanings in the vein of “being lost” or “being obsessed”. Responsible for each meaning of the word, each of the five directors come up with a performance, roughly 25 minutes each, which reflects that particular theme.
The highlight is, of course, Lhong Luer (What Is Left) which is an ensuing chapter after Three Days In May by Wichaya Artamat which won Best Play from the International Association of Theatre Critics Thailand Awards last year.
Like the previous episode, Parnrut Kritcharnchai and Chaturachai Srichanwanpen play sister and brother who meet up to reminisce about their father who passed away a long time ago and engage in a seemingly random conversation. They meet up again this time and discuss the ownership of their father’s dish and the management of their father’s empty grave.
Having won the award last year, the expectation for this follow-up was understandably high. Yet, the very nature of Wichaya’s play is in a way self-defence against criticism. We love Three Days In May not necessarily because it’s “good” but simply because it’s honest and natural. Once again Lhong Luer, with chemistry and spontaneity on the two actors’ part, is exactly so. There is nothing much going on, and the conversation jumps from one humdrum, everyday subject to another, yet it’s heartwarming because it’s more or less what happens in our real lives.
The only difference this time around is the fact that the actors appear to be “too aware” of the presence of the audience who are watching them, and perhaps take advantage of that too often. Even though that has definitely helped with the spontaneity of the actors’ jokes, it could also tamper with the beauty of Wichaya’s theatre-making which allows the audience the privilege to walk into other people’s lives unseen.
The similarity between Lhong Leum (Forgetfulness), directed by Parnrut Kritcharnchai, and Lhong Tang (Getting Lost), directed by Jirakit Suntornlarpyos, is how the characters in both plays engage in a conversation on a surface level and the heavy tension and emotions underneath could only be felt, not heard. The actors in both plays have managed to pull off a combination of humour and fear while philosophising about the question of life and the human condition.
Even though all the plays are completely separate, one feels that there’s a connection in terms of the voice and humour between each play, and the obvious reason being how actors like Parnrut, Chaturachai and Jirakit are actually the directors of other plays. In Lhong Lai (Obsession), a play about love and witchcraft, for example, we sense the same humour in Jirakit’s acting just like we do in his play Lhong Tang.
Dujdao Vadhanapakorn’s Lhong Kon (Being Tricked) is the last performance of the night, and the most powerful one. Staged at the outdoor café area, Dujdao plays a blind and heartbroken singer who, through live singing of The Beatles’ Something, courageously talks about her past relationship which left her shattered.
Like four other plays, Lhong Kon is only a sketch of a scene, and the beauty of it is the vagueness around the play’s main character; we are not sure how exactly her ex-lover hurt her or if that has anything to do with her blindness.
Something is a song about someone having just fallen in love, yet Dujdao has turned it around and used it courageously as a way to come to terms with her painful past. Playing a blind singer is one thing, but portraying a heartbroken woman whose voice and movement is full of strength and forgiveness is an entirely different story.
Lhong Kon.
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.