Theatre as a mirror | Bangkok Post: Arts & Culture

We asked a number of local playwrights, directors and performers to pick a play they believe speaks about present-day Thailand. The play could be thousands of years old or recently written. We didn't limit the choice to works originally written in Thai.

Interestingly, the issues these people decided to address don't differ significantly, but through their selections we can gain insights into the angles from which they view this country and its problems, and their preferences for various story-telling styles.

In this day and age, how do we want stories to be told to us and how do we want our stories to be told? Some of those to whom this question was posed responded with a director's hat on, approaching the question more as a challenge to stage a play. Others answered more from the standpoint of a spectator. Some chose more than one play, as if the problems the country is facing are so numerous that they spill over from one play into another. Others selected an original creation of their own or a play they're about to stage. So, hopefully, these answers will also provide a peek into the way these artists create or view their work in relation to the times they live in.