Khon is a dance drama genre that is originally from Thailand.

Initially, the Khon was

only performed at the royal court. The roles were played by men wearing masks and narrators

who told the story. Khon is originated from Kathakali, a dance form from Southwest India. This

dance is based on the Thai Ramakien drama which was adapted from the Hindu Ramayana

stories. These stories had a great impact on the cultural development of Thailand and other

neighboring South East Asian countries.

The character roles in Khon are dictated and uniform. The dance usually consists of four

main character types: the heroes, the heroines, the monkeys, and the demons or ogres. The

monkeys are the most important role in Khon dance drama. One of the best known monkey

characters in the story is the monkey warrior “Hanumon.” Modern Khon dances includes female

performers playing the female roles. They were formerly played only by men. Khon dance also

incorporated the use of masks. The demon and monkey characters wear masks, while the heroes

and heroines do not. In the past, these dances were only performed by the royal family. The sons

of the king would perform as the monkeys and demons. Khon dance utilizes realistic dance

moves, especially with the monkey, that focus on beauty and “fine monkey-like dancing

postures.” The dance is always accompanied by musicians that play traditional Thai instruments.
 Khon training is begun at a very young age, so that the performer gets flexible enough to

be able to execute backflips, especially by the monkey character. There are six main characters in

the Khon. First, there is Phra Ram who is a king that wants to extinguish evil. Next, there is Phra

Lak who is the loyal brother of Phra Ram. He has special powers and helps is orther fight against

his enemies. Then, there is Tosakanth who is a demon king who has ten faces and twenty arms.

There is also Sita who is the daughter of Tosakanth and Phra Ram’s escort. Also, there is

Hanuman who is a loyal and funny monkey god. And lastly, there is Phipek who is Tosakanth’s

brother and a prophet.

 Studying this form of theatre made me realize how uniform some froms of theatre can be.

Specifically, for Khon, each character is already pre-established. Through my research, I learned

how this can contribute to the character development. This made me appreciate the amount of

coordination involved in the dance. My initial reaction was that I thought this form was quite

simple, especially since the characters were already formed. But through my research, I learn

about the immense training that is reuiqred to fulfill one of the roles as a performer. I feel that

this research will allow me to appreciate the schooling and detail behind different forms of

theatre.

References:

1) Sirinya. Sirinya's Thailand, 21 Mar. 2015, www.sirinyas-thailand.de/2015/03/21/the-

khon-a-thai-dance-drama/.

2) Vitayakul, Dr. Tom. “On Khon Dance Drama.” Bangkok101, 17 Nov. 2016,
www.bangkok101.com/on-khon-dance-drama/.