This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the 6th October 1976 coup, and various commemorations are being held around the country. On 3rd and 4th October, six plays that touch on the events of 1976 — including Wilderness (รักดงดิบ) and วันที่สหายพายุกลับบ้าน (‘the day comrade Payu returned home’) — will be performed at Angoon’s Garden in Bangkok.
วันที่สหายพายุกลับบ้าน will also be performed on 10th October at Weak-end in Phuket, alongside a video of Fundamental. Both events are organised by Thai Collective Scripts.
วันที่สหายพายุกลับบ้าน will also be performed on 10th October at Weak-end in Phuket, alongside a video of Fundamental. Both events are organised by Thai Collective Scripts.
Wilderness
Thanaphon Accawatanyu’s Wilderness was first staged in 2024. The play is divided into two parts, and in part one, a group of students join the communist insurgency after the Thammasat massacre and escape into the jungle.
Part two — which will not be performed at Angoon’s Garden — features a group of contemporary students. The second part is much more ambiguous than the first, with numerous scenes that appear to be dreams caused by hallucenogenic sweets eaten by the characters.
Part two — which will not be performed at Angoon’s Garden — features a group of contemporary students. The second part is much more ambiguous than the first, with numerous scenes that appear to be dreams caused by hallucenogenic sweets eaten by the characters.
วันที่สหายพายุกลับบ้าน
(‘the day comrade Payu returned home’)
Ratapong Pinyosophon’s play วันที่สหายพายุกลับบ้าน is the story of Payu, a student who joined the Communist Party of Thailand and fed into the jungle following the violence of 6th October. His father was a soldier who fought against the communist insurgency, putting the two generations into literal conflict with each other. Payu returns home disillusioned, and vows to stay with his mother, though his fellow comrades implore him not to give up the fight.
The play was first staged in 2010 by the Crescent Moon theatre company, and the performance on 10th October will be directed by Nualpanod Khianpukdee. Ratapong has also published the play’s script alongside an account of his writing process.
The play was first staged in 2010 by the Crescent Moon theatre company, and the performance on 10th October will be directed by Nualpanod Khianpukdee. Ratapong has also published the play’s script alongside an account of his writing process.
Fundamental
Teerawat Mulvilai’s dance performance Fundamental was staged by B-Floor Theatre in 2016, to mark the the fortieth anniversary of 6th October. It was specifically inspired by an infamous Neal Ulevich photograph showing a vigilante preparing the hit a massacre victim with a folding chair. The photo shows a large group of bystanders, who did not intervene to stop the desecration of the victim’s body, and Fundamental explores this apathy within society that tolerates mob violence and state crackdowns.
