Aslam Review from Bangkok Post

Southern storyteller
Aslam proves that stage actress Farida Jirapun is also a playwright and a director to be reckoned with
Published: 20/10/2011
Bangkok Post / Newspaper section: Life
by Amitha Amranand


Few productions on the Bangkok theatre scene have tackled the violence in the Deep South. None that I've seen have moved beyond beating around the bush. Granted, it's a very delicate and complex subject to handle, rendered more difficult for the artists by the geographical and cultural distance, not to mention the dearth of information. Not that any of these constraints should stop an artist from finding a way to dig deeper and create a work that moves and awakens. Many seem to flock to Worapot Phanphong's Thi Kerd Hade, a collection of articles about a year spent in the Deep South, as their number one reference. The book shines with compassion and is effective as an introduction to the problems in the South, but also drips with the romanticisation of the rural and small-town Muslim ways and lacks a critical edge.

Last week at Silpa Nana Pun Festival, Pridi Banomyong Institute's annual social- and political-themed art event, Farida Jirapun staged her Aslam... Jak Jaoying Siang Sao Hang Duangdao Duang Thi Si (Aslam... From the Sad-Voiced Princess of the Fourth Star). Adapted from two short stories from Binla Sankalakiri's SEA Write-winning book, Jao Ngin, the play is so far the most full-fledged theatrical creation about the southern unrest.

Aslam began as a staged reading two years ago at the Crescent Moon Theatre's Read to Peace event, in which Farida collaborated with Colid Midam, stringing together the lyrics of John Lennon's Imagine, the Muslim greeting "Aslamu alaikum" ("Peace be upon you"), and passages from the Koran. Both artists are Muslim and have produced smaller-scale pieces on issues surrounding Muslims in Thailand over the years. At last year's Crescent Moon's Play Reading: Women Read, Farida performed 'Lok' Kong Jaoying Nok Binlai Kub Jaochai Nok Binha (The 'World' of Bird Princess Binlai and Bird Prince Binha), the last tale in Binla's Jao Ngin.


Farida also cites poems by SEA Write recipient Zakariya Amataya and Worapot's famous book as sources of inspiration. Moreover, she dug into accounts, documented by researchers and academics, of the people in the three southernmost provinces who have lost their loved ones. Yet, it's the optimism and the child-like innocence of Binla's fables that become the wings and the weight of the play. Binla, a writer from the South, spoke in his SEA Write acceptance speech of his belief in the possibility of a resolution to the southern conflicts and also in the power of tales that foster love and compassion _ children's tales that don't lie to children.

Aslam begins with a scene between an old Muslim woman in a wheelchair (Farida) and her devout grandson (Colid). Instead of a realistic dialogue, the scene unfolds like a poem, with snippets of Lennon's Imagine, the Koran, loving banters, a recipe for kao yum (a Southern dish), songs about the South and prayers. Thai, English and Arabic swirl in the air. The scene intensifies as the grandson declares his love for his land, his desire to become a sharp shooter, his romantic notion of death _ all laced with anger, devotion, and pain. Through these two characters in the first scene, Farida paves a path for a story of the silenced and forgotten that is to come.

After the loss of her grandson, the old woman is visited by Prince Tantan (Nattapat Khummetha) from another planet. He has heard the cry of a sad-voiced princess and comes to rescue her only to find a cheeky old woman instead of a beautiful young princess like in the fairy tales. Here, Farida deftly fuses Binla's fables with a realist story of one woman's loss that grows into a story of a people's struggle against injustice. There are, however, moments where the words get thrown into a jumble as the actors get caught up in the child-like actions and adventure. Prince Tantan's curiosity becomes a game and ultimately a catharsis for the old woman. Little by little, her story transforms into both of their stories. The wide-eyed world of a child meets the tear-stained one of the old woman. Like Binla's last fable in the book about two birds spinning yarns for their unborn child _their "world" _ the woman and the child from an alien planet are also building a new world through the act of remembering and reconstructing.

Farida is one of the top stage actresses, but Aslam proves that she is also a playwright and a director to be reckoned with. Although the play hesitates and shies away from truly making the audience confront the harrowing reality in the South, it doesn't use the fables to romanticise the plight of the people. Instead, the interlacing of Binla's stories with her own blossoms into a colourful and moving new creation.

The effect is gentle, yes, but the assertion to be heard, to be documented and written down, and to be remembered, is a tough and uncompromising one. As a storyteller, Farida's in full possession of the story, as if not a single word were borrowed.

see :
http://www.bangkokpost.com/arts-and-culture/art/262256/southern-storyteller

photo by : Wichaya Attamat