The Ramakien (Thai Literature)

The Moradokmai Theatre Community

The ensemble performing today represents a tuition-free, volunteer-taught residential school where teens and young adults learn traditional performing arts (Thai music, dance, and theater) as well as contemporary innovations. The school provides a full educational curriculum while recreating the old days, when students absorbed the arts by living in the homes of teachers, learning collaboratively alongside fellow students. Senior teachers Mr. Janaprakal Chandruang (Kru Chang) and Ms. Pobchan Leelasartsuntorn (Kru

Pobchan)—a husband‐and-wife team—aim to integrate family, Buddhist temple, and school in the context of modern Thailand. The school’s name means “new heritage.”

The Ramakien Story

Today’s performance features episodes from the greatest work of Thai literature, the Ramakien. This epic work is related to the ancient Indian Ramayana, and is depicted in all genres of Thai arts: poetry, literature, paintings, dance, theater, music, and puppetry. It tell the story of Phra Ram (Lord Rama), whose wife Sita is abducted to Lanka by the evil multi‐headed, many‐armed Thosakan.  Phra Ram and his allies by the monkey-god, Hanuman, to battle Thosakan and retrieve Sita. The epic is lengthy and complex, and artists today select short excerpts to perform.