Males Performing Female Roles in the Dramas of King Rama VI

Abstract

According to traditional, cultural, religious, and legal taboos of many countries in the past, women were prohibited from acting on stage. Therefore, female roles in the dramas could only be performed by male characters. Nowadays, although such prohibition has been lifted, males still can be seen playing women roles in the dramas. This article is a part of a thesis focusing on His Majesty King Maha Vajiravuhd and his drama inception. The purposes of this article were to present males who played female roles in the drama of King Rama VI. The study found that in Thailand, after King Rama IV allowed females to perform on stage outside the royal court, many dramas were performed by both males and females or all-female theater troupes. However, males still performed female roles and were not seen as unusual in the society. During the reign of King Rama VI, chamberlains, royal court officers, scouts and male students were trained to play female roles in Khon and dramas. Until 1920, after King Rama VI had wished to have a fiancée, amateur actresses began to appear and participated in Sri Ayuthayarom troupe for first time and performed in many dramas throughout the reign.