Sud Sanan-Sawatthee: Designing Community-based Theatre Activities and Making Performance for Telling Collective Memory of Isan People

Abstract

The research project of Sud Sa Nan-Sawatthee: Creating Contemporary Performance from Cultural Capital for Telling Collective Memory and Values of Isan Community; A Case Study of Sawatthee Community, Muang district, Khon Kaen province aims to find the strategy for designing community-based theatre activities and create a contemporary performance about memory. Then, there are the creation of corrective memory together with participants through the process of community-based theatre. In the mean time, created contemporary performance by cultural capital in community and present to Isan audiences. The process is divided into      2 phases. Firstly, practice in community: it is the design of drama activities and used to community-based theatre process at Sawatthee community. Secondly, to develop a production of contemporary performance titled “Sud Sa Nan” and to present in Performing Arts Studio, Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts at Khon Kaen University. The results found that drama activities are designed and used in the research process which can make participants to remember memories of themselves and community both sensory memory, short-term memory and      long-term memory. The participant memories can present through process-drama titled      “Sud Sa Nan-Sawatthee” for telling memory, history and voice of group to audiences in community. However, the corrective memory occurred during the process of drama activities which can develop to the contemporary performance titled “Sud Sa Nan” to tell about idea, perspective and sensibility towards the Sawatthee community. Moreover, to present concepts of a new generation Isan people through a performance by drama students at Khon Kaen University.