ความคิดเห็นที่ 12
เพิ่งได้อ่านบทวิจารณ์ของ Bangkok Post ฮะ เลยมาลงให้พี่ๆอ่านกัน ผมมามีทั้งที่เหมือนและต่างจากของอาจารย์ประวิทย์นะฮะ
Dare to laugh, but not to cry
AMITHA AMRANAND
A squeeze of satire, a dash of musical, a gob of TV, a pinch of slapstick, a sprinkle of tragedy and a spoonful of melodrama. All these ingredients can be found in the comedic play Chai Klang. Although there's nothing startlingly inventive or witty about this production, the irreverence and audacity of this first play by television company Workpoint Entertainment make it a refreshing concoction.
Over the past year, a number of local productions of old and new plays, by both foreign and Thai playwrights, have criticised and commented on abuse of power, the troubled South and various political and social upheavals, or at least have claimed or appeared to. And while theatre in Thailand doesn't even come close to being considered a mainstream medium, and is therefore less susceptible to the rampant censorship faced by the popular media, there's a noticeable lack of edge when it comes to political and social commentaries.
The romance of Somchai's imagination: Niti Samutkojorn as the good-hearted numbskull hero, with actresses Pimkae Kunchorn na Ayudhya and Attama Cheewanichapan as screeching antagonists.
Comedian/actor Udom `Nose' Taepanich, with veteran actor Nirut Sirijanya and TV star Pornchita `Benz' na Songkhla.
Even though Chai Klang is pure mindless entertainment, and has no intention of making serious or astute comments on anything, when it decides to attack something or someone - authority figures, corrupt individuals, ridiculous fads, soap operas, sensational personalities - it bites hard, even savagely. There's no euphemisms or subtlety here, and sometimes that works against it. Call it a childish, even crude, indulgence, but it's exciting, for once, to hear the actual names of the bigwigs and see them being ridiculed, albeit all too briefly.
The play also becomes a platform for the TV company's revenge on Thailand's censorship system. If they have no choice but to tolerate it on the small screen, they won't put up with it on-stage. An attempt by a cultural Nazi to slash "inappropriate" elements from the play is greeted with a diplomatic smile - and a bloody attack. Puerile? Yes. Funny and satisfying? Absolutely.
A revival of a play by the students of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Architecture, Chai Klang (directed by TV director and Chula architecture alumnus, Teerawat Anuwat-udom, and previously titled Pritsana) brings in a diverse body of celebrities - from veteran actors, young soap stars to comedians.
Udom "Nose" Taepanich plays Somchai, an idealistic, proud and appallingly high-maintenance writer. The unpopularity of his esoteric work eventually forces him to pen a sappy romance to feed his and his wife's growling stomachs. His story becomes a hit, especially with his loyal and devoted, if dim-witted, wife (Pornchita Na Songkla), who devours her husband's tale to escape the reality of their home.
Somchai's creation came to life for the theatre audience in full-blown scenes, complete with flashy dance numbers and lip-synching. Maybe predictable, but they still contain a considerable amount of stinging hilarity. These scenes, however, eventually become superfluous and unnecessary as if they were part of a separate play. The attempt to bridge the two narratives together is shallow at best.
Somchai's contempt for melodrama, or any display of emotion for that matter, applies not only to his writing, but also to his relationship with his wife. He orders her to ask for food from a neighbour, so they can eat and he can preserve his pride. He makes her pawn a locket with sentimental value, even after her characteristically meek objection. He puts her down after she cleans up his desk, and sarcastically demands that she not move his belongings even one centimetre. On a romantic date, he kicks her in the butt before hopping on a bike. It's one thing to write a character with flaws and have a sense of humour about his offensive traits, but it is another thing to be unaware of them and portray the character's behaviour as perfectly acceptable.
But of course, being Nose, he can play an insensitive and disrespectful character and inexplicably get away with it, making them somehow more tolerable than they deserve to be. No, the character doesn't become likeable, let alone sympathetic. So this is star power at its most powerful and irresponsible. Nose is an unquestionably gifted, charismatic and very funny performer, with an inimitable artistic persona and style. And while we expect to see Nose being Nose in this play, it's difficult to deny, even as an admirer, that this kind of predictability is getting tiresome.
It is a funny contradiction then that the play that mocks melodrama ends up warmly embracing it by disposing of whatever respect it initially had for the artistic ideals that Somchai so protectively upholds. When it decides to sprinkle some tragedy on the characters' lives, it somehow lacks a satisfying emotional impact and the kind of punch that it's able to pull off with its comedic side. The bitter taste of tragedy has yet to be fully absorbed by the audience when it is suddenly washed away by a sweet ending that turns out to be an even bigger sell-out than when Somchai decides to write a romance novel.
Go and see it if you want a good laugh. There are jokes that fall flat and unnecessary comic detours that don't propel the story forward, but there are a number of gags that can raise a belly laugh.
'Chai Klang' runs until July 30, with performances at 1pm and 7:30pm today and tomorrow, and at 7:30pm on July 30, at the Muang Thai Rachadalai Theatre, the Esplanade, Ratchadaphisek Road. Tickets, priced at 2,000, 1,500, 1,200, 1,000 and 500 baht, can be purchased from http://www.thaiticketmaster.com/ or by calling 02-262-3456.
จากคุณ :
Dao Khanong
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28 ก.ค. 50 21:41:00
A:203.113.30.237 X: TicketID:151461
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