OznAsia

Last week Thai language students at MSU gave performances of a play adapted from a traditional Thai folk tale called 'Khun Chang Khun Pan'. It was presented in Thai. I didn't expect my Thai listening skills to have progressed to the point of being able to follow it. But being a storyteller I was interested. I found an abbreviated version of the story online that gave me the plot. At Saturday night's performance I don't claim to have followed the details but I knew who the important characters were and had some idea of what was going on.

Khun Chang and Khun Pan are two men who love the same woman, Nang Wantong. She agrees to marry Khun Pan. They plant a tree as a symbol of their love. When Khun Pan goes off to war, Khun Chang pours hot water on the tree killing it. He tells Nang Wantong that this is proof that her husband is dead and offers to marry her. This goes well until Khun Pan returns and demands his wife back. However Khun Pan has not exactly been faithful to his wife. He has a few other wives who he married in his travels. Eventually he goes off again and Wantong takes up with Khun Chang once more. But she is pregnant to Khun Pan and bears his son who doesn't get on too well with his stepfather. There are many fights between them and the son wants the stepfather dead. After many years Khun Pan returns and declares his love for her. The king steps in and tells her she has to declare which husband she really loves. She can't make up her mind. I guess the moral of the story is that a woman should not have two husbands as the king has her executed.

The standard of the production was up to what I would expect from a better amateur production in Australia. The costumes were colourful and, to me, looked authentic. Musical backing was well integrated with some of the musicians also taking small parts in the play. I look forward to their next production.

More pictures of the play are on my current flickr page--see 'my latest photos' link on the sidebar.

Labels: art, Asia, drama, folklore, performance, play, thailand

When I lived in Mahasarakham, back six years ago, I remember I had to go to the dance department of the university to meet one of the dance teachers who also helped teach the English students drama. When I got there he had a class and I was invited to sit and chat with him while his students practised their dance movements. 

Students at Thai universities wear uniforms. Mostly they are plain black and white. Some departments have their own uniforms. These dance students were wearing theirs which included a sarong that somehow wrapped back between their legs and connected again at waist level at the back turning the sarong into a baggy pair of pants. That's what these students were wearing on the day I visited. I felt I was very lucky to be able to sit and watch them practise. It was like I was getting my own performance and it was very beautiful to see.

During that year I had many opportunities to see the dance students perform, not in the uniform but in beautiful traditional costumes. One night I was asked to be MC for a night of performances of traditional Thai dance and music that was presented for visiting palaeontologists. I've always enjoyed these performances. It's part of what makes it special for me to live in Mahasarakham.

On Friday night I was wandering around the night market when I noticed some students in the baggy sarong uniform. I knew they must be from the dance department. Later I could hear some announcements being broadcast from the amphitheatre which is right next to the night market. I went to look. In fact, there's been something happening there almost every night of the past week. It's getting close to the end of the semester and I guess the various departments have special presentations to make. This looked like it might be a performance of those dance students I'd just seen. I decided to wait and see and it was.

First there were some group performances like the one you see in the photo above. This was followed by solos from each of the students. Perhaps they were being assessed. I'm not sure but I got to sit in on some wonderful performances and had a delightful evening.

My only regret was that I only had my little camera with me. It's OK for day-to-day shots but doesn't handle the night-time action shots so well. Still I got one or two half-reasonable shots that show some of the intricate and often colourful costumes. You can see them by following the link to my photo page on the sidebar. To see the pictures larger click on them. If you are visiting this page some time after I post it you might find I've added many new photos. You can go straight to the dance photos by clicking this link and then clicking through the photostream by clicking the thumbnails of the photos both before and after the one that opens. Enjoy.

Labels: art, Asia, camera, dance, fx3, Mahasarakham, performance, thailand

I was recently asked for a few tips on working with kids. Here's some of what I've learned over my time as a professional storyteller.

Everyone is a storyteller. Don't think you can't do it. You probably already do but don't know that's what you're doing. When you tell your friends and family about some incident at work or from some other aspect of life, you might notice that they pay you full attention. That's because you are weaving an interesting narrative and they want to find out what happens next.

When you tell stories to kids you can use stories from life, folktales or contemporary published stories. The way to hold their attention is with a story that keeps them guessing about what is going to happen. If the story surprises them they are satisfied. If they can guess what's coming that's boring. Don't rush it. Draw it out and you'll keep them on the edge of their seats.

Reading to kids from books is great. It shows them that the good time they're having is coming from literature. That encourages them to turn to books for entertainment and leads them to literacy. However, if you can let go off the book and tell the story from memory, you make eye contact with the audience, you read them and from their feedback you know how to pace the story, what to emphasise, what to leave out. Storytelling with a book is great. Storytelling without a book is way more powerful. Try it.

When choosing stories, it's not actually wrong for a story to have a message but if the message value is higher than the entertainment value forget it. Even 'bad' kids will sit and listen for hours if you entertain them well but start giving out overt messages about what they should or shouldn't do and you lose them. If your message is so subtle that they don't even notice it, the story can do it's own work on their subconscious.

For all performers, remember the audience comes first. Don't get caught up in your own ego. It can happen so easily. You start thinking how cool you are and then you lose it. The trick is to make them feel cool about themselves and they'll keep coming back for more.

If you teach kids, look for what they're doing right, not what they're doing wrong. So called 'bad' kids have had people telling them bad stuff about themselves so much they've turned right off. To turn them back on find what they do well and let them know. The same applies to adults too. We all need a self-esteem boost from time to time. But don't be patronising. Even kids can see through that.

I've always found kids to be fun. I had a ball for nine years working as a full-time storyteller. Make sure you're having fun and they will too.

Labels: children, kids, performance, storytelling