early 1930s. Sa'nga Kanchanakhaphan [Luang Wichitmatra], Ruang lakhon lae phleng [The Story of Drama and Music], Ru'angsin, Bangkok, 1977: 59-60.
82 Sa'nga Kanchanakhaphan, Yuk phleng nang lae lakhon nai adit [The Past Era of Songs, Films and Plays], Ru'angsin, Bangkok, 1975: 37, 54. The music for Wichit's productions was performed by elements of the highly accomplished Royal Orchestra which the Department of Fine Arts inherited from the palace. The orchestra which originally had seventy-five members, was dismembered after Wichit took control: eighteen of its number backed the performing troupe, another eight went to the Publicity Department where they were formed into a jazz ensemble while the remainder were retired. Nung rop satawat Phra Chenduriyang' [A Hundred Years o f Phra Chenduriyang], Suphot Chaereo, Sinlapawathanatham, 4, 9, July 1983: 18-32. Note: Phra Chenduriyang (original name Peter Feit), son of a German father and Thai mother was the composer of the music for the Thai national anthem: 31.
present, their historical knowledge was limited to singular view of the Thai past; a view, it should be remembered, that Damrong and Wichit had shaped and put in place.
For the remainder of this chapter a number of these plays will be examined more closely and discussed in relation to the broader context in which they were produced.
5.4. 3 The Blood of Suplnan
The first of Wichit's historical-musical dramas, Lu'at Suphan [The Blood of Suphan], appeared in August 1936. The basic outline of the play, which is set in the Ayuthayan period (1350-1767) during one of the Thai-Burmese wars, is as follows:
Suphan, [Suphanburi] in central Siam, is invaded by the Burmese and the population is forced to work for the conquerors. Mangrai, a Burmese officer, is a man of compassion wishing to treat the subjugated Thais fairly. He comes to the aid of a young woman, Duangchan, and her parents who are being abused by Mangratho, one of his fellow officers. Although enemies in war, Mangrai and Duangchan find they are attracted to one another, and he offers to free both her and her parents. She refuses, however, telling him she could never abandon her people just to save herself. Eventually he decides to allow the captive Thais to escape, and although Duangchan begs to remain with him, Mangrai urges her to flee, hopeful that they will meet again in more peaceful times.
Shortly after Duangchan's departure, the Burmese commanders, led by Mangrai's father hold an investigation into the escape of the Thais. In the course of these investigations, Mangrai admits he is responsible for releasing the captives and is sentenced to death. At the same time, Mangratho's mistreatment of Duangchan and her parents is revealed and he is immediately executed. Just before Mangrai is to suffer the same fate, Duangchan returns to plead for his life, but her appeal is refused and he too is put to death. Duangchan is released and she leaves in search of the villagers who have hidden in the jungle. On the way she comes across the bodies of her parents who have been killed by Mangratho's men in revenge for his death. Duangchan is enraged, and on meeting up with the survivors of Suphan calls on them to join her and attack the Burmese. The people follow her into battle where they are slaughtered by the better armed and more numerous enemy forces. The story ends after the battle when Mangrai's spirit appears to make an appeal for an end to war between the Burmese and Thai peoples who, he says, should now become friends.
With its mixture of romance and death, Lu'at Suphan,was designed to elicit a strong emotional response in an audience. It was eminently successful in doing this and played to packed houses in the Department of Fine Arts theatre for months. While there was some minor press criticism of Wichit for depicting intimacy between a Thai woman
and Burmese man, the reaction from newspapers in general was enthusiastic, the music and songs being singled out for special praise.83 The Sikrung even reported that a special cinematic version was planned, although what finally emerged was merely a film of a live performance of the play.84 The government for its part made great efforts to ensure Lu'at Suphan reached as wide an audience as possible.85 For example, shortly after its premiere in Bangkok, the play was broadcast in serialized form over Siam's rapidly expanding state radio network.86 The Ministry of Education also played a key role in disseminating the work by sending copies to government schools both in the capital and provinces where it was studied in class. Meanwhile, the military and police authorities made it required viewing for all young cadets.87
That the government should have so favoured the play is not hard to understand. In essence, the six-act play complemented the efforts made by the Ministry of Defence under Phibun to bolster the popularity of the armed services and legitimize the military's growing domination of the state.88 The previous year (1935) the Ministry had sponsored the production of a documentary-style propaganda film Lu'at thahan Thai
[The Blood of the Thai Military]. This film was particularly interesting in that it featured elaborate staged battle scenes by the three military services accompanied by martial music and song.89 Lu'at Suphan, whose title seems to have been influenced by the film, further contributed to the Ministry of Defence campaign by promoting a view that constant military preparedness was necessary to maintain Thai political sovereignty. At the same time the play linked the military to a particular notion of Thai identity, a notion not dissimilar to that developed by Vajiravudh. Wichit, like the king portrayed the
^ Phadung chat, 13 March 1937. 84 Sikrung, 11 November 1936.
85 The play grossed in excess o f 10,000 baht during the first 4 months it was performed. N A . S.T. 0701.15/24 : 13. Pridi's wife admitted she had seen the production 4 times. Itsara, 19 November 1936.
86 Krungthep warasap, 13 November 1936. W ell over a year earlier plans had been drawn up to