Cinderella

Chompoonuch’s Lakhon Nok: ‘No frames, no rules, no script, no limits.’

‘Lakhon Nok’ is a platform that the Chompoonuch Theatre troupe uses to learn together through the arts—dance, music, and literature.

‘Chomphu’ is the symbolic color of Chulalongkorn University, where the Chompoonuch Theatre troupe was founded.

‘Nuch’ refers to the gender identities of gay men and kathoey—an alternative way of living chosen by members of the Chompoonuch Theatre troupe.

Cinderella is the Chompoonuch troupe’s first production to adapt a foreign literary work into a Lakhon Nok script. Although it departs from convention, it fully retains the core principles of Lakhon Nok, because Lakhon Nok is a form of theatre unrestricted by the conventions that govern Lakhon Nai, its counterpart.

In earlier eras, Lakhon Nok was used as a form of theatre that pushed back against the authorities, turning frustrations with bureaucratic rules into comedy. Performers could take on roles and deliver lines that criticized nobles and the ruling class. This is precisely what affirms Lakhon Nok’s core principle of freedom: no frames. ‘Because Lakhon Nok is an opportunity for human beings to express their thoughts freely.’

The Chompoonuch troupe set out to develop Cinderella as a Lakhon Nok production for the Free Gender Music event, part of the celebration of PRIDE MONTH 2026 at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. From the troupe’s perspective, being ‘Lakhon Nok’ and being ‘free in gender’ are one and the same—the script has the right to be reinterpreted; performers have the right to sing and speak, the right to choose the clothing that covers their bodies, and the right to move in boisterous, ungainly ways rather than with the delicate grace expected of a Thai woman. Everything described above is conveyed through performers, singers, and musicians who freely choose their own gender identities.

Producer: Galileo Oasis; Stage and lighting director: Rassamee Phaoluangthong

Artistic director: Anan Nakkhong

Director: Rukchat Nakharat

Script and music arrangement: Dr. Pakorn Nuyi

Costume design: Chaikrit Saemkham

Dance direction: Dr. Thamachak Phromphuai

Music direction: Pongpipat Phonwattanasil

Singers: Dr. Pakorn Nuyi, Teeraporn, Yincharoen Apinyawut, Wirot Wechaphan

Actors: Rukchat Nakharat, Dr. Thamachak Phromphuai, Dr. Rachan Charoenkaensai,

Phirames Prasitmethee, Kittisak Kaengthong, Naphatchamon Sanya,

Musicians: Pongpipat Phonwattanasil, Worawit Khaosamruang, Chinawat Duriyapreecha Pratamthan

(Translation by GPT5.6 Luna)