The Development of The Contemporary Drama “The Last Finger”

Abstract

This primary objective of this study is to capture the concept of the contemporary drama “The Last Finger”, whereas the secondary goal is to develop the performance of this drama. The working process is being elaborated by studying the relevant academic documents, a series of exclusive interviews, a number of observations before comprehending and analyzing into the final performance. 1) The study found that the fundamental of this drama “The Last Finger” also known as “The Finger Garland”has been influenced by the Buddhist established principle known as “Kalama Sutta” where it is related to the event when someone is believing in something without reasoning or any consideration which resulted in putting themselves and their loved ones in trouble. The consequences of these actions are being more common in the society today especially when people believed in the fake news or frauds from scammers who are misusing the advanced technology. The main purpose of developing this revised play is to educate more people about how they should take into account when receiving any news from the social media and help them realize the disadvantage and consequences of believing in something without consideringor investigating the reliability of the stories or the sources. Furthermore, this performance is considered as a modern channel to educate more men and women for the golden rules of Buddhist in more entertaining environment and this performance is recommended for all audiences including children. 2) The details of the show’s elements include a number of related subjects. The story is being narrated in more contemporaryand the poetry is being composed for the drama script. The background music and songs in the show combines between Thai traditional music and Western music. The more experienced actors and actress have been auditioned and the choreography is involved with traditional Thai advance and contemporary style. While the costume is designed to visualize the way of life of the local Indians during the Buddha period blended with the local Thais in the reign of Ayutthaya, the stage usage and props have been selected in the simplicity of the storylines. The lighting on the stage is being organised to improve the emotions of each character and the multimedia is being played on the screen along with the show on the stage to enhance the audience experience.