Loneliness is a very common issue in urban societies, yet it is often romanticised and not many explore its deeper layers. It is therefore encouraging to see it in a stage play.
Scripted and directed by Chakorn Chamai, Fragments Of Loneliness shows that burnout syndrome in a competitive society could be an underlying cause of social disconnection. Unfortunately, its storytelling is too fragmented to deliver such timely messages.
The play follows two anonymous lovers (Gunn Svasti Na Ayudhya and Pakamon Daraprarom) who struggle to maintain a crumbling relationship against the backdrop of a hectic city. Yet, it turns into a philosophical meditation on the meaning of life in a capitalist system that no longer forces, but encourages, late-modern individuals to achieve in all aspects of life at the expense of themselves.
The play starts off with a kind of signal. Two characters then walk back and forth on the stage, seeming to look for something, but have no interaction and live inside their phones. Silence is broken by a short conversation over coffee and television news, followed by interior monologue. A long stream of consciousness alternates with short dialogues. And this structure repeats itself throughout the play.
Both characters search for better opportunities in the big city, but as it turns out, they end up being "trapped" in a limbo. They feel compelled to survive the rat race without knowing when they will be pushed out. Hard work is not necessarily rewarded with success. The man says he has been out of a job for three years. In a defining moment, they follow life coach advice only to feel lost and unfulfilled. "I have arrived, but not sure where it is," the woman says.
Gunn Svasti Na Ayudhya. (Photo: Lonelylonelybkk)
The play offers a critique of contemporary issues of capitalism and achievement culture. As time-space compression accelerates and capital flows attract development, the result has been urban inequality, which explains why characters experience a wide range of negative emotions. They are incapable of attaining anything because, in an achievement society, the lack of closure creates losers to sustain economic growth. Due to manufactured low self-worth, the couple withdraws from social life and experiences loneliness. In a dreamy scene, they recount the extinction of Schomburgk's deer in the face of economic development.
"Are we similar to them? I feel like a shadow. Nobody could remember my existence," the man says. And for this reason, he proposes to his partner. "We are invisible, but we can celebrate each other the way we are," he says.
It is sad that their relationship is not an embodiment of romantic passion, but need of each other for mutual recognition. Initially, it seems that their last-gasp effort is nearly doomed.
"As we are changing, should we maintain our relationship? Love is born of things other than love itself," the woman reflects. At the end, they keep sticking together, but burnout reduces their love to an act that requires the least effort -- throwing away mango seeds that surprisingly grow.
It is a pity the play's storytelling does not live up to the messages. If you expect a conflict-driven story, you will be disappointed, like me. It is built on a very skeletal, loose plot. Although it begins in media res, as it progresses, characters are not given enough depth to show their personal issues. As it is packed with interior monologue, they are little more than mouthpieces that air what is wrong with the system.
Pakamon Daraprarom. (Photo: Lonelylonelybkk)
In other words, it seems to tell without showing enough. Just to give examples of some awkward moments, when the man smokes and releases a wisp of white cloud, he expresses something very eloquent in the rain.
"Cigarette is different from sugar. I can satisfy an urge whenever I want. When I inhale, it merges with my emptiness inside. When I exhale, there it is. A wisp of white cloud of my loneliness. It is vanishing faster than anyone can see," he says.
In an alternative universe, he can sit still with a blank face for a while, allowing audiences to linger, interpreting his action, rather than telling them in such an eloquent manner through interior monologue. I think it is more natural for people feeling burnout to feel too exhausted to do anything in their personal time. Tired and absorbed in despair, they should keep thinking through language to a minimum.
Also, some research, though interesting, is not smoothly integrated into the fragmented storyline. It felt a bit awkward when characters discuss the extinction of Schomburgk's deer, followed by the man's proposal. It is confusing why they raise an intellectual topic out of nowhere, unless they take on narratorial roles. I think it is quite jumpy and ruins the overall mood. It seems like this informative chunk is retained here out of fear of cutting it.
While interior monologue sometimes feels too intentional, what I loved most about the play is its casual dialogues, which unfortunately make up a small part. Yet, they sound very natural and authentic. During three years of unemployment, they throw away mango seeds, wondering if they will grow. "Tomorrow's job is to find mango fruits," they say. I think this slice-of-life conversation really brings characters to life. It shows them in flesh and blood rather than using them to the director's end.
Fragments Of Loneliness will have its final performances at LiFE Studio on Bamrung Mueang Road, Phra Nakhon, today and tomorrow at 2pm and 7.30pm.
Fragments Of Loneliness is staged at LiFE Studio. (Photo: Lonelylonelybkk)
Fragments Of Loneliness is staged at LiFE Studio. (Photo: Lonelylonelybkk)
Fragments Of Loneliness is staged at LiFE Studio. (Photo: Lonelylonelybkk)
Fragments Of Loneliness is staged at LiFE Studio. (Photo: Lonelylonelybkk)
Fragments Of Loneliness is staged at LiFE Studio. (Photo: Lonelylonelybkk)
Fragments Of Loneliness is staged at LiFE Studio. (Photo: Lonelylonelybkk)
Fragments Of Loneliness is staged at LiFE Studio. (Photo: Lonelylonelybkk)
