The puppet can do different movements and expressions while controlled by three puppeteers.
By Joey Aguilar
Staff Reporter
Thai puppets captivated a capacity audience in Doha on Thursday at an event held to showcase traditional art puppetry, highlighting Thailand’s “Cultural Night 2015.”
Performed by Bangkok’s Joe Louis Puppet Theatre, the performance enthralled a large number of spectators comprised of diplomats, members of the Thai Community in Doha, private sector representatives and other guests.
Known as a symbol of “wishes for all auspicious occasions,” the Thai Blessing Dance welcomed the crowd for the show’s opening salvo. It was followed by another performance called ‘Koog-Paht,’ a display of basic Khon movements which leads to the puppeteer arts.
Two more performances, the Living Puppet and Hanuman seizing Benyakai, also fascinated the crowd with their remarkable portrayal of traditional Thai puppeteer arts.
“Joe Louis Theatre was established decades ago by Sakorn Yangkhiesod who was later honoured as a National Artist in Performing Art in 1996,” Thai ambassador Piroon Laismit said in his speech. “Sakorn passed on the unique puppet manipulating technique and puppet-making method to his nine children.”
Known as the first and only puppet troupe in Thailand which performs abroad, Joe Louis Theatre also encountered a lot of hardships in the past before making its mark as a master of Thai traditional art puppetry, the envoy noted.
Princess Galayani Vadhana, eldest sister of the King of Thailand, granted a patronage to the Theatre at the time when it faced a lot of challenges and difficulties.
Now, the troupe is widely known and admired by both local audiences and foreign visitors in Thailand, according to Laismit.
Besides receiving various recognitions from both public and private sectors, Joe Louis Theatre also won the “Best Traditional Performance” award at the 2006 World Festival of Puppet Art competition in 2006 in Prague, Czech Republic.
The performance of Surin Yangkhieosod, son of the founder of Joe Louis Theatre, was also one of the highlights of the show held at Grand Hyatt Doha.
Laismit said Surin brought the Thai puppet art to shine among the world class puppet art theatres.
The Thai embassy in Doha had been organising regular Thai cultural shows in Doha as part of its soft diplomacy policy.
The envoy said that Thai diplomatic missions around the world are encouraged to actively promote traditional Thai culture to foreigners.
“This year, we are lucky that the Joe Louis Theatre has accepted our invitation to perform and portray the traditional Thai puppeteer arts here in Qatar,” he added.
The Thai Cultural Night 2015 is also part of the events celebrating the commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Thailand and Qatar.
Besides the puppet show, guests also had the opportunity to savour some of Thailand’s popular dishes at the Thai food tasting reception.
The embassy distributed copies of “Discovering Thai Cuisine in Qatar” handbook at the show. It includes some facts and tips of the authentic Thai cuisine, secret recipes and information about all Thai restaurants in Qatar.
