Traditional Dance-Drama

Some Background on Khon:

• A stylized drama performed with masks and elaborate costumes.

• Follows a strict choreography passed down through generations.

• Graceful, angular and precise movements, depicting an event, action or emotion

• The dancers don’t speak but the story is chanted or sung by a chorus

• Gods and humans don’t wear masks

• The hero Rama and the heroine Sita always wear tall gilded headdresses and often appear with Rama’s brother Lakshaman

• ‘Monkeys’ always have open mouth, as if laughing, and come in several colours

• The monkey chief Hanuman always wears white

Where to watch: