โขนพระราชทาน: การสืบทอดและการสร้างสรรค์บทโขนแก่ผู้ชมร่วมสมัย / ณัฐกานต์ พลพิทักษ์ = THE ROYAL KHON PERFORMANCE: CONTINUITY AND CREATION OF BOT KHON FOR CONTEMPORARY AUDIENCE / Natthakan Phonphitak
This dissertation aims to study the continuity and creation in the script of the Royal Khon Performance and to study the function of the script of the Royal Khon Performance to Thai Khon performing culture. The result reveals that the Royal Khon Performance can be catagorised as Khon Chag; scenes are divided according to the story line. The script consists of lyrics, dialogues, narrations, melodies for the lyrics, and tunes; the tune and the melody for each part are precisely and strictly directed. The analysis is divided into two parts: content and creation. The content of all seven episodes of the Royal Khon Performance shows the continuity from the other versions of Khon performance based on Rammakien which are the narrations in the Compilation of Rammakien Narrations, King Rama I’s Rammakien Royal Drama Play, King Rama II’s Rammakien Royal Drama Play, and the script of Prince Narisara Nuwattiwong’s Rammakien Concert. Creation-wise, it is found that the Royal Khon Performance uses the scripts of other versions of Khon performance based on Rammakien which are Compilation of Rammakien Narrations, King Rama I’s Rammakien Royal Drama Play, King Rama II’s Rammakien Royal Drama Play, Prince Narisara Nuwattiwong’s Rammakien Concert, King Rama VI’s Lyrics and Narrations of Rammakien, Fine Arts Department’s Khon scripts, and Queen Sirikit’s Khon Performance which was performed a year before, as sources. There were three ways of creating the Khon script: 1) continuity 2) adaptation and 3) creation. The use of each depends on the characteristics of the original version and the purpose of using the part in the Royal Khon Performance. The scripts of the Royal Khon Performance from 2009-2010 show intense continuity from their sources, especially Khon Phrommas Performance in 2009 and Khon Nang Loi Performance in 2010. After Khon Maiyarap Performance in 2011, the creation of the scripts starts to increase, marking the development of the Royal Khon Performance. The analysis shows that there are four key characteristics in the Royal Khon Performance: 1) agility 2) unity 3) aesthetic and 4) settings and special effects. The four characteristics create uniqueness in the Khon performance culture. They also create popularity of Khon performance and bring about perpetuation of Rammakien and Khon performance in Thai society
