We accept PayPal, Visa & Mastercard
through our secure checkout.
|
A Thai Tale
A Thai Tale
|
Author: Nikki Harmon Publisher: Dramatic Publishing (cover may change) Format: Softcover # of Pages: 53 Pub. Date: 2017 Edition: Acting ISBN-10: 1619591421 ISBN-13: 9781619591424 Cast Size: 3 female, 2 male, 3 either gender (8 total, can tour with 5)
|
About the Play:
A Thai Tale is a full-length comedic drama by Nikki
Harmon. People come to the
Banyan Tree to buy birds and fish, eels and turtles, and release them
to "make
merit"
to improve their karma. A Thai Tale
teaches children the importance of acceptance and freedom.
A Thai Tale is set in a Banyan tree in Thailand and teaches
children the importance of acceptance and freedom. In Sai Ngam in
Northeastern Thailand, Lĕk h̄æ̀ng h̄nụ̀ng, the egotistical
first-bird-in-waiting to the queen of Thailand, has been kidnapped by
an evil bird vendor! And now she’s stuck in a 350-year-old,
35,000-square-foot banyan tree. Gentle and kind Sumalee,
third-bird-in-waiting, has come to her rescue, but she is caught and
ends up trapped in the tree herself. Poor Songsuda, a pin-tailed
parrot-finch, has been in the banyan tree so long that she’s
forgotten how old she is and has given up all hope of ever getting
out of there. On top of that, it’s really crowded because so many
people buy birds, fish, turtles and eels to release into the tree for
improved karma, which is silly since everyone knows that good karma
comes from good deeds. When a wanderer of the world, singer of song
and magician supreme (who is able to shape-shift into anything he
wants) named Chatchom arrives, he might be their best and only chance
at freedom, but Lĕk refuses to heed any suggestions from one who is
of lesser birth than herself. All the while, Pichai, the evil bird
vendor, keeps selling and retrieving birds over and over again. To
help them escape, Chatchom shape-shifts into a monk and, with a
simple bowl of rice, reminds Pichai of his kind nature and the
lessons that his father taught him when he was young. In the end,
Pichai leads Songsuda and all the birds, fish, turtles and eels out
of the tree. Lĕk and Sumalee are returned to the queen’s gardens
on magic feathers given to them by Chatchom, but only after Lĕk
realizes that you can learn from everyone and that everyone and
everything has worth and value, even a single grain of rice. A lesson
in life for all of us!
A Thai Tale premiered in 2013 at The University of Central
Missouri, where it won the university’s National Theatre for Young
Audiences Playwriting Competition.
Cast: 3 female, 2 male, 3 either gender (8 total, can tour with 5)
About the Playwright:
Nikki Harmon is an American playwright, Casting Director.
Her plays have been produced in India, Botswana, South Africa,
England, Australia, China, Thailand, and throughout the U.S. and
Canada. Among her awards, she has been a Finalist for the prestigious
Susan Smith Blackburn
Prize honouring the best English-language women writers worldwide.
|
|
|
|