Behind the scenes with Babymime

Babymime, the trio of pantomime performers comprising Ratchai “Nging” Rujiwipatna, Nuttapol “Ta” Kummata, and Thong-glur “Glur” Thongta, has been staging their annual shows almost every year since 2008 as well as participating in Pantomime in Bangkok and the Bangkok Theatre Festival. Instead of adding a higher number behind each “volume” in the show’s title, they’ve decided to surprise their fans, by putting “not” between “Baby” and “mime”, taking off their trademark wigs and eyeglasses after the opening scene and showing us some of what has been going on behind the scenes of their works.

Audiences love to see and hear behind-the-scene secrets, as was clearly demonstrated by Dreambox’s record-breaking comedy “Onlaman Lang Ban Saithong”, a hybridisation of Michael Frayn’s farcical play “Noises Off” and our popular novel “Ban Saithong”. One secret of that success was the contrasts between the front and the back of the stage. 

In “Baby (not) Mime” show, the audience saw more of the latter, with the personal problems of each of the three members often repeated – though we never knew which were actual and which were dramatised – and leading to the predictable and inevitable break-up of the troupe. And there was plenty of laughter along the way. 

Maintaining a tradition of “Babymime Show”, a guest actor performed short skits and held scene title placards. Akira Modesakul excelled in her task here, thanks to her comedic and physical prowess, although whether we really needed scene titles here is questionable as all scenes, unlike the “Babymime Show”, were dramatically connected.

Another tradition is for the trio to work with a different director every year and this time round Parnrut Kritchanchai kept the show moving along at a fine pace through 90 minutes. The core message was clearly delivered – that it’s difficult for three artists to keep working coherently in a troupe for a long period when each keeps developing along his own path, both personally and professionally. The acting of the trio backstage, though, could have been honed to make them more relaxed and different from their pantomime personas.

Seasoned playwright and director Nophand Boonyai was credited as the script editor and put the show together from what the trio created in rehearsals. Fans of Nophand’s works might not recognise his signature here though, as it contained fewer surprises, twists and the social satire for which he is known.

In the end, this reunion with our old friends was not exactly what we had expected. I am sure I was not the only member of the audience to feel that Babymime’s behind-the-scenes show had come about a decade too soon. 

As the laughter and applause confirmed, the two silent scenes – the first, the troupe’s signature opening and the last scene, a flash forward to the future when the grey-haired and slow-moving trio show their determination – the annual Babymime show is made to last.

 

 YOURS AND MIME