A decade of drama

Flower of Love Entertainment's Wannasak "Kuck" Sirilar and Tadu Contemporary Art celebrated their 10th anniversary last weekend with the aptly titled "Ten 10th Drama X Project by Kuck".

But while this was a festive event, some audience members may well have found themselves wishing for a finer balance between entertainment and essence.

Rather than use the art space on the seventh floor of Barcelona Motors Building, Kuck chose to experiment - he filled the northern side of the roof with white wooden boxes of different sizes and placed some 150 seats on the south side.

Set against a backdrop of city lights, this effectively created a neutral performance space. There are no high-rises nearby and by 8pm, the temperature is mild and there's even an occasional breeze. One drink and finger food were included in the ticket, and more could be purchased at any time during the show. The mood was perfect for a party.

"This [space] is beyond seventh heaven," Kuck said during curtain call.

At the start of the show, a series of titles were projected on the wall, listing performers, the production team and stage crew plus the 10 themes from Kuck's previous nine shows and this newest one that have been integrated for "Ten".

These included "A man's life that neither a man nor a woman can touch" from "The Night Keanu Reeves Kissed Me"; "Some friends are just for fun; others will be kept in our memory," from "This Is My Life, I Love You"; and "Born as a man, I'll die as a woman" from "Chailai Pai Rob" ("Chailai Goes to War").

Supporting Kuck, who sings, dances and performs acrobatics, were stage veterans Phisan Phatthanaphiradet, Krit Chaisinbun, and Phitthaya Phanitsombat, who matched his energy very well. They were backed by four students from Kasembundit University, who unfortunately looked a bit out of place. The show also featured exciting moves by a B-Boy group and music by a live band.

In the opening musical number, Kuck prepped his company and the audience, saying, "When we perform, we should put it all in, including tears, laughter, beauty, and ugliness from our lives. Whatever we do [in our performance], it may change someone's life forever."

Then, Kuck took the audience to an all-male boarding school, where he's a young chap who gets caught kissing his boyfriend on the rooftop by a "master" - short for "schoolmaster" although Kuck later adds a suffix. He travels north, and, since it is April, enlists in the army - in the company of men. He finally lands in Burma where he meets another man. Suddenly, he is called to work as a eunuch in the Chinese court, only to be seduced by the emperor and tricked by the empress.

After the intermission, Kuck becomes a samurai's wife and performs a scene from "Rashomon". Shortly afterwards, he transforms into the gypsy woman Aldonsa from "Man of La Mancha".

Finally, after portraying many dramatic parts, he questions if these roles have served to hide his true self. He also expresses doubt as to whether the messages he wants to convey are still pertinent. He then sums up, saying that you should find what you really want, be true to it and, before you know it, the world will open its doors for you.

While this was a captivating message, the fact that he repeated it again and again made it sound too didactic and idealistic. Besides, after 90 minutes of mixing music, dance and drama, one couldn't help think of it as a contrived ending.

In the end, "Keanu Reeves" and "Chailai" remain Kuck's best works to date. Restaged many times, the former is acclaimed for its amusement, and the latter for its "chameleon" portrayal of characters, an intriguing plot and witty dialogue.

After 10 years and "Ten", maybe it's time for the funniest man in contemporary Thai theatre to reconsider his artistic directions. Collaboration with other playwrights and directors may be a solution.