"Conflict is the essence of drama," says Thai writer and director Ekachai Uekrongtham. Ekachai has developed and directs a show currently on stage in Bangkok. Entitled Muay Thai Live, it is a sequence of scenes narrating the history of Muay Thai, the Thai martial art. In the show, the violence of Muay Thai is transformed into fascinating acrobatic displays, losing its brutality in the play of light and sound. The show is a kind of metaphor for what is happening in Thailand. After all, as Ekachai says: "Muay Thai is a bit like the essence of being Thai."
Violence and brutality explode from time to time on the streets. But in most cases, it is transformed into the spectacle of a demonstration. The drama, understood as a representation, takes on all of its standard forms: comedy, farce, tragedy. And the essence of drama, whether theatrical or real, is always conflict. Just as the origin of conflict is a desire for control. It's a term heard increasingly often in Thailand. It is one of the codes of a culture based on the “pee-nong” relationship (superior-inferior), which in turn derives from the interaction between Dharma, the ethic and social order, and kharma, the action determining individual destiny. Now, though, control seems to be eluding the standard rules and stage actors are trying to create a new one, or bring back the old one. So, as Muay Thai Live prepares for its final shows, the other spectacle seems destined to go on for a long time to come.