Thai Art and Culture
Thai Mask Dancing Performance-The story of Ramayana (Khon)
Thai mask dancing performance or Khon is a traditional performance which very charming and important to Thai society. The performance can be called in English in many names, some people call Thai mask-dancing, some call Khon Drama, meanwhile some other call only “Khon”. In fact, this kind of performance is not usually be seen in public except during a very special occasion, such as major national celebration. This because in the past, Khon will be performed only to the King and always performed in the palace, so there was no chance for normal people to see the performance. But nowadays, Khon can be performed in general public places and also during any kind of special occasions. The performance is believed to happen for more than 700 years back.
The characteristic of Khon and the composition of the performance
Player or performer
It is very interesting to know more about characteristic of the player of Khon. Not everyone can play Khon, the players of this kind of performance must have very specialised skills on Thai dancing. This because, as mentioned earlier that the play is only for the king so there is no chance for the mistakes and the performance have to be very perfect. Usually, the players will be trained also by the royal Thai dancing schools, located in the palace so there was nothing that people in the public could know or learn about this kind of art. Moreover, the players were only women, because n ancient time, no man is allowed to enter the palace compound.
The story of Kohn
The story of Khon, usually (but not always), Ramayana, even though the Ramayana was introduced much longer before Khon was born. However, the story of Ramayana that used for Khon performance is based on the story composed by the King Rama the Third, which is different from the original Ramayana.
Introduction of Ramayana story
So it will be useful if I provide a bit of introduction about Ramayana story. The story is about a war between a god and a demon. The god called Rama and the Demon named Thossakan. They both has very powerful armies, especially the god Rama has a very powerful magic monkey called Hanuman as his general. Therefore, the performance will base on the fights of the two armies.
Nowadays, Khon has changed in terms of characteristics and the way it was performed. The art of Khon dance now taught in public art schools and anyone can play Khon when they are trained properly. The performance can be played everywhere even in a public hall or theater. It is one of the most important Thai art performance. However, there are some aspect the remain the same as what Khon was introduced, which is norms and tradition of the performance, the respect that the performer towards their teachers or even the story of Ramayana. There are some occasions that Khon is played in another story, apart from Ramayana. But the main interest is still Ramayana and it seems the most attractive stir to the audience.
