The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXIV, Part 1-2, 1976 - Khamkoo

424 1\EVJE\\S
business, and a follower of Si Kaeo who keeps him in line, and often
pulls him out of a scrape.
The clowns are based on real life characters,
sometimes actual persons, and they embody all the human foibles as in
any great comic tradition.
Even a brief acquaintance with Nang Talung will indicate that the
puppet master needs great skill to at once manipulate the different
puppets in t.urn from behind his screen, while at the same time speaking
the part of each character with instantaneous changes in voice, accent,
and characterization, as appropriate.
His handling of verse passages,
spontaneously contrived on the spur of the moment, and his comic speech
for the clowns (always in the southern Thai dialect) constitute the height
of his skill. One master plays an entire troupe of characters, in a
performance usually lasting through the night to dawn, with the sole
assistance of a few musicians.
The most exciting performances are
competitive between two or more puppet masters of great repute, vying
to attract the majority of the audience to their own performance. In
older times the Nang Talung was performed at celebrations of a general
nature rather than on the occasion of specific auspicious ceremonies, and
occasionally at funerals as well. Most interestingly the shadow play was
suitable for kae bon, the fulfillment of a vow.
In this context the
performance constitutes an offering to a particular spirit as thanks for
the granting of a boon sought by a supplicant.
In the kae bon performance
the story presented must come from the Ramayana, but in
ordinary performances a great variety in plot has become common,
deriving from popular tales, jatakas, and modern fiction.
This volume,
the fruit of one of several projects by Khun Suthiwong aiming to record
and preserve southern Thai cultural traditions, lives up to its admirable
purpose.
The British Library,
London
He11ry Giushurg