Open Writing

Many of us enjoy a visit to the theatre. Here’s one visit I will never forget.

Four of us have decided to go to see some Thai dancing. My companions are three Italian ladies whom I’ve only recently met. It’s dark and we have difficulty finding our way from our hotel in Cha ’Am. We are walking through mud and our sandalled toes are squelching in it.

It seems that we are about to see a drama very much like a pantomime that we would see in the West. But we are in the Far East - in Thailand. This is turning out to be quite an experience. We are surrounded by the people of the local village, many of them young children.

There is no resentment of foreigners here, no jealous guarding of pre-booked seats. The villagers make room for us and a lady escorts us to the rush mat, which covers the dirt road. And there we sit.

We appear to be a great source of fascination and amusement to these Thai people, especially the children. One boy spends most of the time with his back to the performance on stage. He laughs and smiles at the more unusual form of entertainment - us.

Someone decides that we are not sitting comfortably and a bench is brought for us. Perhaps this is their version of an up-grade in seating. Suddenly, there appears a basket for our monetary appreciation (well, we have been given better seats!). Accordingly, we foreigners all made our contributions to the kitty. This is such a good idea, apparently, that the collection basket makes another appearance, after a respectable interval of time. Well, we are the only visitors and therefore the only paying customers.

The stage is about 18” high, with a backdrop of an indoor palace scene. Accompaniment to the amplified voices of the performers is by an instrument rather like a xylophone and some wood blocks. Many children decide to play in front of the action and some even crawl up on to the stage as the mood takes them. There is even a little white mongrel dog, who joins in the action.

The performers - all quite young - wear jewelled costumes. Initially, we have difficulty in following the drama, since we do not understand the Thai language. However, half an hour into the performance a humorous element is introduced. (“Oh, no it isn’t!” - “Oh, yes it is!”) Two girls mime the actions of stepping out of their clothes and bathing naked in a pool. There is much parodying of swimming, after they have ably demonstrated their embarrassment of their revealed nakedness. Three men come along and take the discarded clothing, teasing the girls who eventually grab the clothes and are chased round and round the stage.

They then have great fun as they indulge in western-style dancing with their partners. They wiggle their bodies in disco-dancing style, no doubt poking fun at our western ways. This overt display of suggestive dancing comes as something of a surprise to me, considering the teachings of Buddha. But it’s only acting, isn’t it?

Here comes the money basket again - time to leave. As we get up, there is immediate reaction from both the rest of the audience and the performers, who all entreat us to stay. We thank them, but decide that enough is enough. We are escorted back in the dark and mud to familiar territory - the path back to the hotel.

With our departure the show is definitely over, both on and off the stage. Yes, despite popular opinion, the show is over - yet no fat lady sang.