The Lunch Box

“the composer has achieved a wonderfully delicate balance. The music always seemed to support and enhance the work and one could not mistake the Thai feel despite the use of traditional western instruments” -Mark Cutler, Australian Stage Online

“a gently moving drama of love and selfishness” - Elizabeth Ruthven, the Mercury

 ”a creative winner that is set to travel” - Margaretta Pos, Ozbaby.com and Tasmanian Times

“beautiful in its simplicity” - Stephenie Cahalan, Tasmanian Times

“The ensemble, under conductor Michael Lampard, is tight in the rhythmically complex score, melodically sweet in the often pensive harmonic tensions, and sensitively supports the singers” - Anica Boulanger-Mashberg, Tasmanian Times

Son

An arrogant middle-aged farmer who lives at home with his mother. He is hard working and good-spirited to all except his mother, whom he treats with anger and contempt whenever she tries to fulfil one of the multitude of chores she lovingly performs for him.

Mother

Kind old lady with a good sense of humour. Full of love for her son, she constantly tries to improve her efforts whenever her son, whom she idolises, complains.

Scene 1 – Son at Home

The son is working in the field with the other farmers. When he moans childishly about the food his mother brings every day, the other farmers laugh at him. He offers to swap his lunch with another farmer.

Scene 2 – Mother at Home

The mother is at home doing chores around the house. She has been busy making beds and running a bath for her son who will soon be home. She sings her favourite song whilst she lovingly prepares his evening meal. Her neighbour comes by, and the mother speaks of how proud she is of her son, who goes and works hard in the fields every day to support her. She comments on how today she’ll be able to impress him with her food.

Scene 3 – Mother and Son at Home

The son arrives home from the fields, and when he sees that his mother has not done the chores around the house to his liking, he complains rudely. Although she has cleaned the house, made his bed, prepared his bath and got dinner ready for him, he still acts like an ungrateful child. The mother is extremely apologetic, and re-makes his bed at least twice before he is mollified. He goes off to have his bath, still muttering complaints.

Scene 4 – Planning the Perfect Lunch

The next day, after the son has gone off to work in the fields, his mother sits at home excitedly planning a special meal for him. She thinks that if she can make a meal good enough, her son won’t complain and be rude to her. She travels to the market and chooses the best ingredients that she can buy, and when she gets home she becomes so excited, that she starts to sings her favourite song. When she has finished cooking, she lovingly wraps up the food in a lunch box and leaves to deliver it to her son in the field.

Scene 5 – The Lunch Box

The son complains about his mother being late with his lunch. When she finally arrives at the field and gives him the small lunch box, he is enraged at the size of it and accuses her of not caring about him. In anger, he strikes her upon the head with his trowel – she instantly crumples into a heap on the ground, lifeless. Still ranting, and totally unaware of his mother’s death, he goes and eats his lunch. He has never tasted anything better nor more filling! He decides to go and apologise to his mum for hitting her, and to say thanks for the best food he has ever tasted. When he discovers her corpse, he is overcome with grief and guilt at his actions. As the show concludes he is trying to shake her to life, apologising all the time.

Composer – Thanapoom Sirichang

Thanapoom Sirichang was born in the city of Chiangmai, Thailand. He began his music study at the age of eight by joining the Prince Royals College Ensemble. He studied music with Gain Tepparat and Yutthapol Sakthamjareon until he finished college in 1998. He continued his higher music study, and completed a Bachelor Music Degree with first class honours in 2002 at the Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand, then Dr. Thorsten Wollmann, his composition teacher, encouraged him to pursue post-graduate study in Australia. Thanapoom completed his Master Degree in Music composition in year 2006 with Professor Douglas Knehans at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music.

Librettist – Bringkop Vora-Urai

Bringkop was born and raised in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He got his first degree in Geology from Chiangmai University in 1988, then took a sharp turn to a music career as a Piano teacher at Yamaha Music School. During his studies for second Bachelor degree at Music Department, Payap University, he was an Art & Culture Editor for ‘Panna Magazine’. After graduated in 1991, he was selected to be a music instructor at Payap University. In 1994, he explored his new area of interesting in theatre arts as a music director for Tranimit Co., Ltd (The Producer of “Nang Mai: Lanna dance and drama theatre “). Bringkop pursued his Master Degree in Ethnomusicology from Northern Illinois University and graduated in 1997, now he takes his role as a music instructor and the Head of Music Department at Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Design & Direction – Joey Ruigrok van der Werven

Joey is a freelance set designer and performance maker living in Sydney. His designs are always more than just a backdrop: performers have to interact with it, meeting its challenges. Prior to moving to Australia in 1996 he was key artist and technical manager of Dogtroep, one of Europe’s renowned, site-specific theatre companies where he created images and facilitated the ideas of large groups of up to 25 professional sculptors, performers and inventors. Here in Australia he has designed and build for Stalker, Marrugeku, Legs on the Wall, Gravity Feed, Kantanka and many other incidental shows. His most recent works are; designing the set for Marrugeku’s “Burning Daylight”, Co-writing and design of “Dream Mason’s” on the façade of Salamanca Arts Centre in Hobart, designing Alan Schacher’s “Babel Project” and now directing Volta; a theatre designer driven site specific event of the senses in the Foyer of Carriage Works. Joey also leads master classes and workshops for both fellow practitioners and communities in the devising and making of contraptions and objects for performantive events. He has just come back from Chicago, USA and recently finished a community arts project in Glenorchy, Tasmania.

Sydney Bouhaniche – Lighting Designer

Originally from France, Sydney has worked in the Art industry designing for dance, theatre, music and television plus lighting conceptualist for big events including the use of large-scale projections. He has continued to create his particular style of lighting and projection design in Australia which includes; Kate Champion’s About Face at the Sydney Opera House, Macbeth at STC, Lovers at Versailles, the Drama Theatre, Projections onto the Harbour Pylons for New Years Eve 2004 and BigHart’s Stickybricks for Sydney Festival. Sydney has designed for a number of opening ceremonies; 2002 CHOGM, opening shows for The World Congress of Ophthalmology, Astronomy and Neurology. Other designs include the images for the launch of Luna Park and Wayne Harrison’s production of Sunset Boulevard. 2004–05 John Eales Medal Dinner, lights and large–scale images for Cartier at Cargo and projections onto the NSW Art Gallery for the Opening of the Sydney Film Festival plus lights and images for Tenebrae 2, The Song Co. and Force Majeure at the Town Hall.

Saran Suebsantiwongse – Baritone

One of the foremost Thai opera singers, Saran was educated at the Manhattan School of Music in New York where he received his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and at the prestigious Royal College of Music in London where he was a Chevening Scholar in the Advanced Postgraduate Course in Opera Studies. He was also a recipient of the ‘Young Thai Musicians Scholarship Fund’ awarded by HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana. He sang the roles of Papageno, Donner and Gugliemo with the Bangkok Opera, Plutone with Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, Fiorello and Baron Duphol with the Singapore Lyric Opera. Additionally, Saran sang the lead role of Pan in a staged production of Bach’s Der Streit Zwischen Phoebus und Pan with the New York Baroque Soloists and made his European debut as Pisandre in Fauré’s Penelope and Second Man in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah at Wexford Festival Opera in 2005. In 2007, he founded an opera/performing arts company, NUNi Productions, with an aim to create international standard performances in Thailand and also to provide more opportunities for young Thai artists to perform in professional productions. Saran also sang the roles of Count Almaviva, Gugliemo and Enrico (Il campanello) and MacHeath (Threepenny Opera) in his company’s new productions. Also highly demand as a concert singer, Saran also appeared frequently in concerts including Mozart’s Requiem, Haydn’s Paukenmesse and Tippett’s Child of Our Time with the Bangkok Opera, Chapentier’s Te Deum and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Louveciennes Chamber Choir and was the baritone soloist in Carmina Burana with Shrewsbury International Choir and sang the role of Manoa in Handel’s Samson for the Bangkok Music Society. Currently, he is the Professor of Voice at the Silpakorn University and received a full scholarship for the voice teacher training programme at the University of Music and Arts Vienna.

Monique Klongtruadroke – Soprano

Italian / Thai soprano Monique is well known in Thailand’s classical music scene, having earned unanimous admiration from the public and critics. A top graduate in Opera singing at the Conservatoire ‘B. Marcello’ in Venice (2003), she continued training with Alain Charles Billard, and participated in masterclasses by Rina Malatrasi, Luciana Serra and Gloria Banditelli. Monique’s extensive performing experience includes concerts in major cities throughout the world before her Australian debut, such as: Miami, Venice, Rome, Ferrara, Rovigo, Bologna, Bergamo, Brescia, Catania and Bangkok. This capital has seen her perform with Thailand’s Steinway Artist Nat Yontararak, renowned tenors Mario Bolognesi and Seungwon Choi among others. On various occasions she also sang in front of H.R.H. Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Monique sang the leading role in Haydn’s La Canterina in Venice, Serafina in Donizetti’s Il Campanello for NUNI Productions, the Philistine Woman in Handel’s “Samson” for the Bangkok Music Society, and was the soprano soloist in Bach’s Magnificat and Vivaldi’s Magnificat with a Baroque orchestra conducted by Paolo Faldi, in Mozart’s “Coronation Mass” with the Bangkok Japanese Chorus, in Rutter’s “Requiem” with the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hikotaro Yazaki. Monique has guest featured in several albums of known contemporary artists. Presently, Monique is Professor of Voice at the Silpakorn University, Bangkok.