Thai artist Wichaya Artamat debuts in Singapore with family drama This Song Father Used To Sing
SINGAPORE – The 220-seater Esplanade Theatre Studio is a massive venue for Thai artist Wichaya Artamat, who usually sees an average audience of 30 in Bangkok, in rooms that might not be purpose-built for theatre.
In his Singapore debut, the Bangkok-based theatremaker is bringing one of his best-known works – This Song Father Used To Sing (Three Days In May). Like the Thai film hit with a mouthful of a title – How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (2024) – Wichaya’s play is also a family drama that strives for intimacy and has a “cinematic quality”.
The show will have its Asian premiere in Singapore on Sept 6 and 7 as part of Esplanade’s The Studios season, before it travels to Shanghai. The show has previously played in European festivals and is one of Wichaya’s signatures.
The story follows two siblings through three Mays commemorating their late father in a traditional Chinese ceremony – often talking about nothing in particular, reflecting the everyday dynamics between siblings. The quiet two-hander features Jaturachai Srichanwanpen and Parnrut Kritchanchai, the original actors from its 2015 premiere.
Producer and touring manager Sasapin Siriwanij says of the Singapore staging: “I’m really excited because, for the first time, we won’t have to explain, because people would get all the references – (Hong Kong singer-actor) Leslie Cheung, (Taiwanese singer-actress) Teresa Teng.”
But this intimate family drama carries a deeper political subtext. The titular three days in May are political flashpoints in Thai history – Black May in 1992, red shirt protests in 2010 and a military coup d’etat in 2014 – although these are not referenced directly.
The script – which was shaped through rehearsals and on-stage improvisation – has also evolved and now adopts a different timeline.
“It’s the way we practise our self-censorship skills,” says Wichaya. But Wichaya and Sasapin, both 39, say Thai audiences have always been perceptive enough to pick up the subtexts.
Asked if foreign audiences will understand the Thai cultural context, Wichaya says: “In different contexts, I think the family is still the family – it’s the connecting point of the play. But the way people deal with their family is different in each context, so some of the audiences in Europe say, ‘Why don’t you fight each other? You just sit and smile.’”
Cultural context aside, will audiences be able to grasp the political undertones?
Sasapin chimes in: “You can take the play as just that – which is already quite touching in itself... Not everyone comes to this political layer, but they know there is this political nuance drifting in the air.”
A useful tip for theatregoers unfamiliar with Thai culture is to think beyond the biological parent when one hears “father” being mentioned – it is a word that is used to refer to many people.
Sasapin says: “The word father has a very specific meaning in Thailand. If we talk about the father, you don’t just think about your father. It’s always like, ‘Okay, which father are we talking about?’”
The rise of the youth movement in Thailand since 2020 has contributed to the popular expression in Thailand that they have “broken the ceiling” of silence, says Sasapin, adding: “Now, people are much more casually talking about the monarchy, for example.”
But the boundaries for expression are constantly shifting, and while some of Wichaya’s newer work appears more open, he says: “I might go back to allegory again.”
Book It/This Song Father Used To Sing (Three Days In May)
Where: Esplanade Theatre Studio, 1 Esplanade DriveWhen: Sept 6 and 7, 8pmAdmission: From $30
Info: str.sg/HfWL