This Song Father Used to Sing (Three Days in May)

“…more than the themes of politics, gender, religion, and so on it depicts, this play is sharply questioning the very nature of a theatre, the place where it is taking place, and, by extension, artistic expression and art itself.” – Yoru no Fune, Kyoto Experiment Performing Arts Criticism Project 2021 Spring: Selected Review.

17 May 2015: A pair of Thai-Chinese siblings reunite to perform a traditional Chinese ceremony in remembrance of their late father.

19 May 2018: They reunite again to perform a traditional Chinese ceremony in remembrance of their late father.

22 May, some years later: They reunite once again to perform a traditional Chinese ceremony in remembrance of their late father.

This Song Father Used to Sing (Three Days in May) zeroes in on a small kitchen space in Bangkok. A brother and sister live through three days there in May, each time in a different calendar year, to commemorate their deceased father in a traditional Chinese ceremony. They cook, eat, chat and joke about nothing in particular. Their retiring nature contrasts with the captivating and often absurd conversations they engage in. Past, present and future blend subtly, connected to the political context of the Thai metropolis. The play shows life as it is, without drawing a veil over its alienating character. The characters’ statements do not serve any logic and neither do they lead to a clear end.

This is an unpolitical story with its own politics. Written and directed by award-winning playwright Wichaya Artamat, who has been recognised as a leading figure in contemporary Thai theatre, This Song Father Used to Sing (Three Days in May) premiered in 2015 at Crescent Moon Space, Bangkok, Thailand, to great reception by audiences and critics alike. It was awarded Best Play by the International Association of Theatre Critics, Thailand Centre (IATC) in 2016, and was nominated for Best Performance by a Male Artist, Best Performance by a Female Artist, and Best Original Script awards in the same year.  It toured major European festivals such as Festival d’Automne, Theater Spektakel, Kunstenfestivaldesarts and Wiener Festwochen, and now makes its way to Esplanade as Wichaya’s debut work in Singapore.

This is a story that allows audiences to see how ordinary people can survive in a world in which they will never win, dead or alive. A world that will repeat itself May after May, day after day. A world that plays its people into the politics of the invariably unpolitical story of life.