When Rama Rocks

DUBBING PATRAVADI High School Hua Hin’s “Rocking Rama” an annual school showcase doesn’t do the production justice. As evidenced at last Sunday’s matinee show, the audience is not only comprised of proud parents as is the case with traditional school shows but the majority of the crowd are students from other schools as well as Hua Hin residents, both Thai and foreign,
A quick read of the cast and crew list in the programme booklet makes it easy to see why this is no ordinary high school theatre production and explains why it has created such a hype in this popular resort town. For example, the music, which ingeniously and seamlessly blends traditional Thai and contemporary western sounds and is performed with sheer dexterity by two small ensembles, is by Anant Narkkong. The choreography, which also deftly mixes different styles, is by Manop Meejamrat. The colourful costumes are designed by Ruth Pongstaphone and based on the Indian roots of the epic. For its part, the script is written by Anne Leveque and Patravadi Mejudhon, who also direct, in both Thai and English and takes its cue from Lakshmi Lal’s version of Valmiki’s “Ramayana”, rather than “Ramakien”, as well as a poem by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu.
The audience witnesses how traditional and modern theatrical arts form a happy marriage and how creativity can be balanced with respect for cultural heritage. An exemplary scene is when the demon Mareet, commanded by Ravana as part of his scheme to abduct Sita, impersonates the Golden Deer to attract Sita and to lure Rama away from his pavilion. To Sita’s surprise and delight – the audience’s too –the deer is seen atop a radio-controlled racing car. Immediately after this comes up a brief khon (masked dance) duet between Rama and the Golden Deer, performed by classical Thai dance masters.
The hour of theatrical pleasure passes swiftly and while the audience does learn how desire can lead to all sorts of troubles, the play ends abruptly before the battle between Rama and Ravana’s armies. The supertitles on the backdrop recommend we find out what happened next in this epic story by reading the book. That led to my feeling the kind of disappointment as at the end of “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”– except that here the next episode of “Rocking Rama” is not promised.
“Rocking Rama” nicely follows up on the success of Patravadi High School’s “Viva Phra Samut” last academic year and I’m not the only member of the audience who’s now looking forward to their next production, even though that means a year from now and 200 kilometres from Bangkok.
In her introduction, Patravadi reconfirmed with the audience that this was a high school production and that her school was not a performing arts school that trains artists but a normal one, which uses a standard curriculum. However, all the students spent their visual and performing arts classes, as well as their evenings and weekends working on this production with their teachers. She also noted that in the process of creating this educational theatre production, the teachers discussed with students how this Indian epic was also related to other areas of study such as politics, confirming that they’re not doing this merely for art’s sake.
If more Thai high school students, and their teachers, spent less time in tutorial schools and more time in such a fruitful extra-curricular activity, which is not required for any university admissions, our next generation of citizens’ EQ levels would probably be significantly raised.
 ENCORE,
ENCORE!
 n By popular demand, “Rocking Rama” extends its run for one more performance on at 7.30pm on Saturday at the Vic Hua Hin. It’s in English and Thai.
n Tickets are Bt400 (Bt200 for students) Book by calling (032) 827 814-5 or (089) 255 0002. For more details, visit www.VicHuaHin.com.