Director Marut Sarowat talks about his passion for stage plays and his latest production - an interpretation of 'Madame Butterfly' starring the cast of True Fantasia
KANOKPORN CHANASONGKRAM
Two years ago, Marut Sarowat was elated by his first take on directing a Broadway-style musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The ambitious version by Tianchai Sooktiang's Voice Studio, a Chiang Mai-based troupe, aimed to match Western productions of the Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir Tim Rice musical; and Marut zealously took to the challenge, putting on memorable performances at the Bangkok Playhouse in May 2006.
On the same stage, in the same 800-seat theatre, albeit renovated and rechristened as M Theatre, the veteran director will be weaving his magic again with Krungsri AF the Musical: Jo-Jo San, which premieres on August 9. The amiable Bangkokian is indeed happy to be back to stage another spectacular and making his favourite form of performing arts.
The heartbroken geisha (Mint AF3) about to commit hara-kiri. |
Involved in show business for almost three decades, he has made his mark as an actor, a stage play/TV lakhon (drama and soap opera) director and producer, and last year - another dream come true - a movie director for Phranakorn Film's The One (Likhit Rak Kad Jai Mae).
"I've had a passion for acting since I was a kid. In William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, my first school play, I played Portia and was the nang aek (the female lead), which was unavoidable since Wat Suthiwararam School was a boy's school," he recalls.
At Thammasat University, his studies at the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication paralleled his vigorous involvement in the university's theatrical productions.
After graduating, joining AUA Thai Players, Montienthong Theatre, and Dass Entertainment troupes, the devoted Marut did practically everything from ironing costumes and ushering the audience into the theatre to playing supporting roles and ultimately directing. Notable plays by the ace director include Krungthep, Krungthep in 1982 to celebrate Bangkok's bicentennial and 40 Karat in 1997.
Marut Sarowat will bring M Theatre to life again with his latest enthralling musical, Jo-Jo San . |
In the mid 1990s, he started to lean towards television, as Pee Kai (Warayut Milintrjinda) encouraged him to try his hand at directing small screen dramas. Over the last 10 years, Marut has directed 26 television lakhon, including hits like Sai See Plerng, Mear Luang and Samee Tee Tra.
The upcoming Jo-Jo San production has him in high spirits, not only because he's getting a kick out of doing a musical, but it because it joins other productions, namely Man of La Mancha, We Will Rock You, Karng Lung Pharb The Musical (Behind the Painting) in reviving the theatre scene in Bangkok.
"Starting in the mid-80s, the glory of the Montienthong Theatre lasted for about nine years. So I've seen it booming and fading and from now on I hope that it will be here to stay," says the director. "Stage plays and musicals can be an enthralling entertainment option, especially when movies and TV shows become monotonous. The challenge is to make quality productions and expand the audience base."
With 20 young talents from the hit reality show Academy Fantasia (AF) playing main characters, Jo-Jo San appears to be targetting fans of AF artists. Marut however urges musical-lovers and theatre-goers not to miss the Thai adaptation of Madama Butterfly, a 104-year-old opera by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. His masterpiece was based on David Belasco's play, which depicted the story of Madame Butterfly, written by American lawyer John Luther Long in 1898.
Besides the immortal opera, the story has been adapted to the silver screen, with a silent film in 1915, a black and white film (starring Sylvia Sidney and Cary Grant) in 1932 and Frederic Mitterrand's version in 1995. The ill-fated romance is also the theme for Sao Khruea Fah, Miss Saigon and M Butterfly.
"While it's a century-old story, Madame Butterfly remains a timeless heart-wrenching love story. We face the task of re-narrating this romantic tragedy for today's generation and making it an entertaining show for Thais," he says.
With a script by Treeyoongthong, the three-act musical, set in Nagasaki, tells the tragic story of Jo-Jo San, or Butterfly, a young geisha and daughter of a disgraced samurai who committed hara-kiri. Renowned for her gracefulness and beauty, Jo-Jo San has many men falling in love with her, including Prince Yamadori. Marrying a dashing American, Lieutenant BF Pinkerton of the USS Abraham Lincoln, she is denounced by her family.
After his duty in Japan, Pinkerton returns to the United States, promising Jo-Jo San that he will come back. He does, but with his American wife, Kate. Betrayed by her lover, the heartbroken geisha commits hara-kiri with her father's dagger inscribed with the words: "To die with honour, when one can no longer live with honour."
In this version, Marut points out that the protagonists, Jo-Jo San and Pinkerton, remain true to their original characters while Prince Yamadori, instead of a playboy prince, becomes a faithful rak diew jai diew (one-woman) man, for an intense love triangle plot. "In addition, the musical takes you inside 'Geisha Academy'," Marut jokes. "We've added a Mama San and other geishas, with three jealous of Jo-Jo San, to make the story even more gripping."
Presented in two versions, the musical offers a different set of AF artists playing the leading roles of Jo-Jo San (Mint AF3, Lukpong AF4), Pinkerton (Wan AF2, Tui AF3), Prince Yamadori (Nat, Tol AF4), Kate (Patcha AF2, Papang AF4) and Jo-Jo San's maid, Sasaki (Zara AF3, Pong AF4). Amusingly, the maid formerly known as Suzuki has been renamed since Marut didn't want to associate this part with a motorcycle.
On directing the double cast, he says, "It's a good thing for me to sharpen the saw in directing and tapping into each performer's potential. It's not an easy task, but it's my job to take the two different casts to reach the same objective in performing their best for an exceptional show."
The score features the theme song Jo-Jo San, originally sung by Rungruedee Paengphongsai, as well as two familiar tunes, Subaru and Sukiyaki. In addition, Pongsak Phoovaveeranondh and Piti Keyuraphan composed 40 or so new songs, including Japanese-inspired melodies that involve traditional Japanese instruments.
According to producer Kitikorn Penrote, whose works include the successful Ngoen, Ngoen, Ngoen (Money, Money, Money): The Musical staged last year, his new musical required extensive research on Japanese culture. And performers were trained in Japanese customs like walking, bowing and tea-making, as well as traditional Japanese dances. With extravagant costumes, many imported from Japan, and magnificent sets, the two-and-a-half-hour show will be like taking a trip to the Land of the Rising Sun.
An entertaining treat for the whole family Jo-Jo San - like Les Miserables (Marut's fave musical) - offers historical and socio-political facets, whether feminism, with the heroine being rebellious for a woman of her times, or anti-colonialism, as Japan defends itself from America.
With only four weeks to go before the curtain rises, Marut admits that he's excited as well as under pressure. "Making a musical is a big thing. Moreover, stage plays and musicals are the most demanding performing arts for actors and directors. No matter how much we rehearse, we can never be sure that we've rehearsed enough. Besides, no director can say that the production is good enough until he or she gets feedback from the audience."
Looking back on his previous works at the Bangkok Playhouse, whether Tootsie, All About Eve, Shueard Sangharn (The Robe), or Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, all Marut has left to say is, "Jo-Jo San has taken me back home."
Krungsri AF the Musical: Jo-Jo San will be running at M Theatre, New Phetchaburi Road, every weekend from August 9 to 31. Showtimes are 7pm on Friday and 1:30pm and 7pm on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets cost 1,000/1,500/2,000/2,500 and 3,000 baht. They are available at Thaiticketmajor booths. For more information, please call 02-262-3456 or visit http://www.thaiticketmajor.com.
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