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Seri Wangnaitham’s Phuchanasibtid and the Modernization of Thai Traditional Theatre
- Asian Theatre Journal
- University of Hawai'i Press
- Volume 31, Number 2, Fall 2014
- pp. 417-438
- 10.1353/atj.2014.0038
- Article
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The adaptation of Yākhōp’s(Chote Praephan ‘s) popular novel Phuchanasibtid (Conqueror of Ten Directions) to lakhon phanthang (“theatre of a thousand ways”) by Seri Wangnaitham at the National Theatre was a watershed moment in Thai theatre. This fifty-six-episode production, staged regularly over the period 1986–1994, played a pivotal role in the modernization of Thai theatrical arts, while maintaining the aesthetic values of tradition. The production developed a new audience for Thai dance, drama, and music, and opened the door for the incorporation of popular arts, such as the folk drama likay, into the elite National Theatre.