The sound of loneliness

Tennessee Williams' autobiographical drama “Vieux Carre” is one of his least performed plays – even the first Broadway production closed after only five performances. That makes it, marketing-wise, a major risk for any theatre company, anywhere in the world, not least in Thailand. And so New Theatre Society’s decision to stage its Thai adaptation can only be commended

If there’s a medium that’s best for telling the story of misfits living together in an apartment building, theatre seems to be the best candidate.

New Theatre Society was smart in opting to use as the Thai title “Seang Nan Cheu Pratthana”– literally “A Sound Named Desire”, thus drawing a instant connection to Williams’ best known play “A Streetcar Named Desire”. They chose as the English title “Cacophonies”, which is probably easier to remember than the French original. 

The translation by Sawita Diteeyont worked seamlessly in the Thai context and she smartly cut some specific American context that would have made the play another bread-and-butter work, except for the appearance of the winged angel, which looked out of place. 

Director Grisana Punpeng, a drama lecturer at Thammasat University, kept the play at a fine pace and there were many touching moments that were neither melodramatic nor sensational. Although the play has been criticised for its lack of dramatic action, Grisana’s evidently hard work with his actors proved that characters not usually seen in daily life are good enough to keep us entertained when they are convincingly portrayed.

The 135-minute play, with one intermission, was told through the perspective of “the writer”, performed with sheer subtlety and credibility by Jaturachai Srichanwanpen, a playwright himself. As the landlady, Parnrut Kritchanchai was hilarious in the first act, especially when she improvised additional jokes, but this hilarity also watered down her character’s background stories when they were later revealed.

Malys Choeysobhon delivered his best performance to date as a middle-aged gay artist who’s dying of tuberculosis – if you enjoyed his performance in “Chuichai Saneha” last year, you’ll enjoy this one even more. This is almost the total opposite to the Malys we’ve seen in TV dramas over the past two decades – proof that he hasn’t been given enough challenging roles to prove his prowess. Grisana also deserves much credit for his coaching of young actresses Darina Boonchu and Praphaphan Suthirawut, enabling them to rub shoulders with veteran performers without any problems.

Jaturachai’s set design is also worthy of praise, not least because he managed to provide enough space in this small studio for the several rooms in the play that was written for a standard playhouse with a proper stage. Grisana’s blocking made the characters appear connected and the stage never looked overcrowded. Tawit Keitprapai’s lighting design added a solemn tone and effectively punctuated the transitions from scene to scene. 

It’s noteworthy that this is the third production by New Theatre Society this year each by a different director. “Cacophonies” follows on from “The Trial After Kafka’s” and “In Ther View” at Democrazy Theatre Studio, and the audience is looking forward for more from them.

 HEAR, HEAR!

 n “Cacophonies” will be prefomed tonight and from Wednesday to May 12 in the Crescent Moon Space at the Pridi Banomyong Institute on Thong Lor. Shows are at 8pm.

n Tickets are Bt500 at the door, Bt450 in advance or Bt350 for groups of 10 or more.

n Call (095) 474 7344 or check out Facebook.com/|NewTheatreSociety.