Another ‘White Snake’ comes to the stage

Much has been written about the Ministry of Culture’s Asean Puppet Festival 2017, which concluded last week, but little mention has been made of a piece, also featuring puppets, that was not included in the short festival. “The White Snake” by Hong Hun, finished its run of eight performances last night at the Crescent Moon Space.

The brainchild of seasoned stage actor, TV host and visual artist Konthorn “Hongtae” Taecholarn, Hong Hun’s first work “Hong Hun 101: Dude Must Die” had a short run last July. It was an original work in which the six actors created their own puppets and shared their personal views on death. For their second work, they picked a Chinese folk tale with which Thai audiences are familiar, “The Legend of the White Snake”. Readers will remember that Wannasak “Kuck” Sirilar recently picked up an award for his play adaptation of the story and I frequently wonder how many productions centred on the tale Thai theatregoers get to watch in a lifetime, especially considering the fact that the story itself already has several versions.
That’s not to say “The White Snake” was a step-back for Hong Hun, as the 55-minute show at the Crescent Moon Space was entertaining throughout – smiles were seen on the faces of the audience and laughter was heard often. 
The four actors-puppeteers – Hongtae as Buddhist monk Fahai, Kwin Bhichitkul as Xu Xian, Sasapin Siriwanij as Bai “White Snake” Suzhen, and Marian Phum-on as “Green Snake” Xiaoqing – matched their physical movements to those of their characters, and even though none has trained professionally as a puppeteer, all exuded much enthusiasm and passion for the art of puppetry. 
The stand out was Marian who seemed to be the most effortlessly united with her puppet. Without spoken dialogue, the sound effects and accompanying music were created live by multi-instrumentalists Sirimas Yodsuwan and Chutirat Kongsuntiea and they easily became stars of this delightful little show.
Credit was also due to director Patarasuda Anuman Rajadhon, who made sure that the storytelling was clear, all events well combined and the mood and tone always spot-on.

Hongtae’s adaptation of the script, while mostly staying true to the original, made some contemporary links. For example, the animation projected on the panel when Fahai first appeared, underlined that he is actually Thailand’s most infamous monk. However, the additional jokes, here and there, in a play so short, were such that Xu Xian and Suzhen didn’t have time to develop their relationship and the audience wasn’t quite sure what lessons we could draw from this new adaptation. 
In the end and notwithstanding these setbacks, the audience warmly welcomed this new troupe into the ever diverse realm of contemporary Thai theatre and is now looking forward to watching the next work by Hong Hun.