Eyes wide open

 VETERAN PLAYWRIGHT, actor, director and leader of 8X8 Theatre Nikorn Sae Tang, the latest recipient of the Culture Ministry’s Silpathorn Award in performing arts, premiered his first and only monodrama “Insomnia” at the Thailand Cultural Centre back in 2002, a year after his company’s much acclaimed physical theatre “Bangkok Lovely Madness”.
“Insomnia”, or “Non Mai Lab” as it was called in Thai, told the story of single banker Chainarong, another victim of corporate Thailand, suffering the fallout and pressure from the “Tom Yam Goong” crisis in a highly competitive business world.
I still recall my favourite moment in the monologue when Nikorn quoted from a booklet of Buddhist sermons: “Getting older is getting closer. It’s like a cow walking into a slaughterhouse – one more step closer to the blades – and finally it’s the killing, the slaughter and the death. We humans are all faced with the same doom.”
He turned to the audience and asked. “So, can you still sleep?”, before cheekily handing out copies of the booklet.
Back then, I wrote that the performance, “sends the audience home rethinking of the value of, unlike the title, a good night’s sleep. Undoubtedly, it is a powerhouse performance worthy of revival”.
My prediction was spot on. “Insomnia” has been staged many times in the past decade, including at Tadu Art in Bangkok and at the Chiang Mai and Burapha Universities.
Nikorn is also bringing it back this weekend, this time to the Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts,
“It’s my solo performance and I also wrote and directed it, which makes it easier to travel than other plays. But I’m not by myself onstage. Two musicians are performing live to accompany me, and there are also a few backstage crew members, without whom the performance wouldn’t be possible.”
Last year, when Nikorn received a fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation’s Asian Cultural Council to visit the US, he was also invited to perform “Insomnia” at the University of Ohio.
“I performed the narration in English, but the characters’ dialogues were in Thai, with English surtitles,” he explains.
“I posted on Facebook some photos from that performance for which I received onstage help from an Indonesian professor and musician. That led to many friends asking me when I would restage ‘Insomnia’ in Bangkok. I was fortunate enough to get financial support from Arrow University and venue support from ‘World Performances @ Drama Chula’, so here we are.”
Nikorn says most of the script remains the same as 11 years ago, mainly because the play is as relevant now as it was then. He also reunites with the two musicians who’ve been with the show from the beginning – Nathawut Leekool and Keerati Sripraprutchai. There are some updates in the details, though.
“Back then, when people lost their jobs, they’d sell whatever they had from the trunks of their cars to earn some cash. Nowadays, a lot of people are considering running for parliament so they can earn money for the rest of their lives.”
On Tuesday and again yesterday, Nikorn conducted a “How to create your solo” workshop for “Insomnia” ticket holders who were quick enough to book their places.
“I focused on how to turn one’s inspiration into a solo performance, how to make full use of the performance space and how to connect with the audience, for example,” he explained.
“Most people still equate a solo performance with a talk show of the sort made famous by Udom Taepanich. I think the core of solo performance is the story the performer wants to tell. Not many people want to communicate their stories through solo performance: they’d rather portray characters in others’ plays.”

If you can’t sleep
As part of “World Performances @ Drama Chula”, “Insomnia” is at Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts, on Henri Dunant Road (BTS Siam, Exit 6) tomorrow at 7:30pm and Saturday at 2 and 730pm.
It’s in Thai, with English surtitles.
Tickets cost Bt500. Bt300 for dance and theatre artists and the under-27s and Bt200 for students. Book at (02) 218 4802 and (081) 559 7252.
For more information, visit “Drama Arts Chula” at Facebook.