Parodic Theatre: Mimicking, Satirising and Comic-Making in Kaew Na Ma

Abstract

The contemporary lakho’n chatri production of Kaew Na Ma (the Dog Face) was created by the Anatta Theatre Troupe. In fashioning this work, the troupe imitated and mimicked the well-known folk tale of Kaew Na Ma (Horse-Face Lady). The purposes of this paper are to study how the author manage to mimic the prior text, what the message the author needed to communicate is, and what the techniques of comic-making are used. The study finds that this work is deemed to be a parodic theatre; its story merely borrows the title, the names of main characters as well as the object bringing to the encounter of the main characters from the prior work to parody. Such parodic feature of the production illustrates its self-reflexive rather than reflecting the narrative of Horse-Face Lady as seen from its message in criticising and satirising the current Thai political context. Similar to the form of traditional lakhon chatri, in addition, the work of the Dog Face emphasises on a humorous basis in which the comic senses are made through the characters, story, and language usages.