SINEEDNADH KEITPRAPAI IS MARIA FALCONETTI

SINEEDNADH KEITPRAPAI IS MARIA FALCONETTI

10 MINUTE PLAY (2012, Various directors)

I like the talk after this reading event very much. Many viewers express very interesting opinions in the talk after the reading, much more interesting than the talks after many other stage plays. I think it is because

1.Each of this reading event comprises 4 plays in different genres. So each viewer can find something they really like or find something they really want to talk about in at least one of the plays. This is different from a talk after one long play. Because in that case, if the viewers don't like the play or don't understand the play, they may not find some interesting things to talk about.

2. It is very easy for each viewer to compare and contrast the four plays.

The play in this reading event:

1. WANT อยาก (2012, Wichaya Artamat, A+20)

I like the use of smell and the "off stage" presence of the actors very much. This makes this play unique, as unique as the play 6TH OCTOBER PARTY (2012, Wichaya Artamat, A+30). Both these plays prove that Wichaya is a very creative person.

I also like the topic of this play, which deals with the desire of a mother who wants her son to be a genius. I think this topic is very important for Thailand, because Thailand is very much afflicted by "good intentions" of some people. There are some people in Thailand who have "good intentions" for other people, wanting to help other people, but never really listen to the people they want to help, never really understand what those people need or want. These wannabe philanthropists judge by themselves what other people really need or want, and end up doing more harm than good for other people. The obvious examples of this is the kind of parents who have "good intentions" for their children, and try to force their own children to become something the children really don't want to be.

Apart from WANT, there is a great film which deals with this pathetic "good intentions" of some Thai people. It's the film INSIDE OF ME พายในใจ (2012, Nattaphan Boonlert, A+30).

2.BELOVED PLUTO พลูโตที่รัก (2012, Ben Busarakamwong, A/A-)

I think two things in this play don't quite match with each other: the outcast of the planet Pluto and the change of human relationships, partly because I don't feel anything for the outcast of Pluto. Pluto is an object without souls, feelings, and emotions for me. The outcast of Pluto makes me feel nothing, unlike the outcast of some human beings or the destroying of Thai constitutions in 2006. That is the kind of things that makes me feel really hurt.

3. THE GROCERY STORE ON ALLEY FOUR ร้านชำซอยสี่ (2012, Nattanun Prasertrasamee, A+15)

I like the story of this play very much. It unintentionally reminds me of my favorite TV series THE TWILIGHT ZONE (1985-1989). In this play, the character that I like the most is the one played by Nattaya Nakawech, as a career-oriented woman.

4. IN SILENCE (2012, Sineednadh Keitpraprai, A+30)

The performance of Sineenadh in this play is as unbearably moving as Maria Falconetti in THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928, Carl Theodor Dreyer).

The story in this play is great by itself. The story in this play reminds ones of such plays as HUNGER (2008, Wisarut Chuaypetch) or such films as INCENDIES (2010, Denis Villeneuve, A+30), which deal with women suffering under a brutal regime. But the story alone doesn't guarantee that the play would be really powerful. Fortunately, the performance of Sineenadh and the lighting in this play help make this play one of my most favorite plays of the year.

5.THUNYA AND DAD ธันย่าและพ่อ (2012, Napak Tricharoendej, A+/A)

I like the idea of this play very much. It is a slice of life, focusing on minute details in the relationships of people. Unfortunately, I have never had the same kind of experience as the one portrayed in this play. Therefore, though I like the idea of this play, I cannot identify myself with the characters in the play.

6. THE PROTRUDING MACHINE NO.4 เครื่องพุ่งทะยานหมายเลข 4 (2012, Saifah Tanthana, A+10)

I like the ending of this play very much. It is very touching, and this touching feeling is not only caused by the story, but also by the deliberate pace of the monologue and the lighting. The playwright (Jaturachai Srichanwanpen) and the director of this play know very well how to create a touching moment.

However, the reason why I don't give this play A+30 maybe because I cannot identify myself fully with the characters in the play. I mean I'm the person who will not stop my close friends from doing the things they really want to do, as long as it doesn't harm me. If my friends want to commit suicide, I will help them. I will not stop them.

7.A LOVE SONG (2012, Sukanya Pheansri, A+20)

I think the directing of Sukanya is fine. I give A+ to the directing of Sukanya. But I think the script of this play, written by Orada Leelanuch, has a potential to be adapted into a film as powerful as the ones made by Marguerite Duras, especially AGATHA AND THE UNLIMITED READINGS (1981, 90min).

This play inspires my imagination a lot. I imagine a film which uses the voices reading the texts of this play, combining with the pictures of scenes which may not correspond directly with the texts read during that moment.

In AGATHA AND THE UNLIMITED READINGS, we hear voices telling the story of an incest love between a sister and a brother, but we rarely see both characters in the film. We never really see they speak during the films. These two characters appear only a few minutes in the film. In about 75% of the film, we see empty beaches, a blue-and-grey sea, an empty house, windows, doors, mirrors, or something like that.

A filmmaker who tries to adapt the script A LOVE SONG into a film should try to follow what Marguerite Duras did in AGATHA AND THE UNLIMITED READINGS. The discrepancies between sound and images would make the film very powerful.

In conclusion, I give A+ to the reading of A LOVE SONG. I give A+25 to the Marguerite Duras-like imagination inspired by the reading of A LOVE SONG.

4.HIA HIA STORY เรื่องเหี้ยเหี้ย (2012, Gawintorn Sangsakorn, A+/A)

This play unintentionally reminds me of such absurd plays as A ZOO STORY (Edward Albee) and WAITING FOR GODOT (Samuel Beckett), but unfortunately this play doesn't have a profound effect on me like those absurd plays.