The critic's tale

PLAYWRIGHT AND DIRECTOR Jaturachai Srichanwanpen’s new play, “The Comments” (“Kham Khit Hen”) underlined his talent for staging the unpredictable. Honoured by the International Association of Theatre Critics-Thailand for his adaptations of “The Odd Couple” and “Pisat Hua To”, he took the audience to the part of a play they never see – the behind-the-scenes segment where members of the cast and crew along with one critic voice their opinions on the performance as well as of each other.
Jaturachai didn’t stop there but instead expanded his scenario to cover how we make comments in various kinds of social media – using real quotations – and how such comments affect us. The play would have been nicely proportioned had he stopped here and explored our nature of commentary. Unfortunately, he pushed it further ahead and connected the idea to the world of reality TV competitions in which a panel of judges expresses their comments causing the winner to stand tall, or lie low, at the end.
The audience was also encouraged to take part in the play, filling a blank sheet of paper with comments even before entering the studio. However, this turned out to have little to do with the play and audience involvement was limited to one member volunteering to toss a ball at the stage to pick the member of the cast and crew who would be killed.
While the entire 15-member cast made for a strong ensemble and each listened to and responded to the other realistically, the stage often felt too crowded. Seasoned thespians Priya Wongrabeab, Parnrut Kritchanchai, Suphasawatt Puranaveja, Kriangkrai Fukasem, Panchana Soonthornpipit and Watthanachai Treedecha were underused and didn’t have a chance to fully shine, resulting in their portraying characters in much the same way as in other plays.
As the play also aimed to give the audience a behind-the-scenes glimpse of independent Thai theatre, it should have highlighted the fact that these small, but never insignificant, productions are usually achieved by smaller casts and crews.
Notwithstanding these pitfalls, “The Comments” was another hilarious evening at the Democrazy Theatre Studio. It also reminded me of the occasion when a theatre company’s public relations officer asked my editor to assign someone else to comment on their new production, adding that if I hadn’t like the last, I should have refrained from comments.
Perhaps she failed to realise that as a professional critic, I need to write a review of any performance I watch.
Taking our Facebook frenzy and oral criticism culture, which clearly demonstrates our preference for making comments only to those who agree with us, into account, it seems that criticism in Thailand still has a long way to go.
 ALSO PLAYING
- “A Foetus’s Dream”, a Butoh-inspired dance performance by veteran directors Kittiphon “Bo” Udomrattanakulchai and Grisana “Num” Punpeng opens tonight at the Crescent Moon Space in the Pridi Banomyong Institute on Soi Thonglor. It runs until Saturday and from August 14 to 16. Shows are at 7.30pm and tickets are Bt550. Call (099) 352 3092.