The Prevalence and Characteristics of Lakhon Nok in the Royal Court Style as performed in the episode “Leuak Khu - Ha Pla” of the Story Sangthong by the Fine Arts Department
Keywords:
Prevalence, characteristic, lakhon nok in the royal court style, Sangthong play, episode Leuak khu – ha plaAbstract
This research article has two objectives, namely to study the prevalence and the distinctive characteristics of the Lakhon Nok in the royal court style as performed in the episode “Leuak Khu - Ha Pla” in the story Sangthong of the Fine Arts Department. For the research, qualitative methods were used, such as interviews with experts and analysis of data from play bills, documents and related research from various data sources. Then, the data have been compiled and presented in a descriptive analysis.
The results of the study showed that, since ancient times, the story Sangthong began to be widely known through oral tradition. Originally from the buddhist literature about Suwannasang Chadok, Sangthong was a common story known in various localities. During the Ayutthaya period, the various stories were put together to compose a play, which became popular until the Rattanakosin period. During the reign of King Rama 2, the story of Sangthong has been transposed to the royal writing as a play of Lakhon Nok style in order to have the royal inner court female dancers perform for His Majesty. This version is considered as very popular and widespread, and, later on, will be known as the story Sangthong in the Lakhon nok Royal Court Style. The form of Lakorn Nok performances in the style of the royal inner court for the story Sangthong has been past on from one generation to another up to the Fine Arts Department as we know today. Then, the form has been revised and adapted to suit nowadays standards and the audience’s taste. A popular episode from this story, which is still often performed nowadays is called Leuak Khu – Ha Pla. Its success can be explained for several reasons: the narrative script has distinctive characteristics including various plays and emotions; the form for the performance of this episode is important as it respects ancestral traditions of Thai play; it displays beautiful dance choreographies from the female royal inner court dances, but in a more concise form according to the script; it combines harmonious music with singing, which merges folk and classical styles; the costumes are in the same style as found in the female royal inner court performances; and, finally, the use of realistic setting. All those detailed elements contribute to this performance’s ongoing success and popularity.