Thread: Memory Lane (In my own language)

“Lakorn Rong” (Thai singing-drama) emerged around the end of King Rama V’s reign (1868–1910). Lakorn Rong theatre was introduced by Prince Narathip Prapanphong (King Rama V’s cousin). It was inspired by and developed from Western grand opera combining with Bungsawan (Malay Opera) and the hints of other forms of Thai traditional theatre.

Pridalai Theatre Troupe was the first Lakorn Rong troupe in the country. The troupe gained huge success starting from the royal court, and later it also captured public attention. Pridalai Troupe set model and performing standards which were later adopted and imitated by other troupes.

During the peak period of Lakorn Rong popularity, there were more than 50 theatre troupes in Bangkok. As a consequence of its popularity, commercial recordings of Lakorn Rong commenced.

According to historical evidence, more than 200 of Lakorn Rong gramophone records were found. Apart from the records, many of Lakorn Rong play scripts were commercially publicized.

These historical evidences reflect that Lakorn Rong was one of the most popular forms of entertainment before silent films started to grow in 1922 and out-shadowed Lakorn Rong completely after 1927. Since then Lakorn Rong has been shaped and developed into contemporary musical theatre as we see today.

The colorized B&W photo courtesy of ‘Sebastian Peet’ shows two main Lakorn Rong characters in the extravagant costume.