On the page, sentences in Cloture De L’amour (Love’s End) snap off arbitrarily, words tumbling into the next line and the next. There is no real beginning or end to sentences, no capitalisation, no full stops, no commas. Onstage, a man and a woman try to end to their relationship with this same cascade of words.
Sasithorn Panichnok and Chaiwat Anutrakulchai in a scene from Lerk!
Translated from French into Thai by Phrae Chittiphalangsri and Pakawalee Kongkrapan, Pascal Rambert’s play — the Thai title of which is Lerk! (It’s Over!) — features two monologues, each about 45 minutes in length. The man speaks first, uninterrupted; then the woman speaks, also uninterrupted, until the end of the play. The characters are named after the actors playing them. In this case, they are Add (Chaiwat Anutrakulchai) and Heen (Sasithorn Panichnok).
Directed by Bhanbhassa Dhubthien, the first female director of the play, Lerk! may feel like a trudge at first, but with Bhanbhassa’s deft direction, the actors’ fierce focus and commitment and Ritirong Jiwakanon’s spare (three light cues!) yet powerful art direction, the play soon speeds up into an exhilarating drive.
The audience is greeted by a stage painted in white, lit from above with white neon tube lights attached to a hanging rectangular grids. The white floor gracefully curves up into a white wall with a narrow door in the middle. The play itself begins in a complete and lengthy period of darkness. Suddenly, glaring white lights spring up, forcing the audience to squint. A door slams offstage. Heen and Add stomp in. They walk to opposite sides of the stage, and Add begins by breaking up with her.
As Add speaks, both stay on their sides of the room, never approaching each other, underlining the vast emptiness between them. When he is done and about to leave the room, she stops him with her words — short phrases first, then a passionate barrage of words. Heen takes up the entire room as she speaks, occasionally entering his space, even cornering him.
His words — often pretentious, academic, presumptuous and full of imperatives — seems to build up her defences, while hers — accessible yet precise — exposes him, leaving him chafed and raw. He may be more cerebral, but she’s more of a humanist and a linguist who’s unafraid to be vulgar.
Although the male character can come off as petty and irritating, Add is able to hold the audience throughout his monologue and occasionally relieves the tension with his sharp comic timing. Heen is compelling even as she is silent and her reactions to his tirade minimal. When it is her turn to speak, her outrage exhilarates. It takes us on a ride. It energises and fills the room.
Intentionally or not, Rambert seems to have created a female character who is more likeable and sympathetic. Though she mercilessly cuts and slices her male counterpart with her words, we soon see that it is all part of her effort to salvage the relationship. She coaches and preps him for its continuation, which to her requires even more strength than the break-up. Heen’s vulnerability in this part of the play is complex and poignant. And that’s what leaves the most lasting imprint.
- Lerk! (performed in Thai with English and French subtitles) runs at Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, until Sunday. Show time is 7.30pm.
- Tickets cost 600 baht (300 baht for students).
- Email ticketdramacu@gmail.com or call 08-1559-7252.
