An Angel's Cocktail

Written by Jasmine Baker, with photos by Uthorn Sripantha
Published in the Nation on 25 September 2009
Permalink: http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/danceandtheatre/2009/10/04/entry-2

The story of how Dr. Krisana Kraisintu gave hope to millions with her generic HIV/AIDS drug is told in a mix of dialogue, movements and biting satire.

After a lengthy battle against government officials, corrupt politicians, and multinational pharmaceutical companies, Dr. Krisana Kraisintu not only succeeded in creating the GPO-VIR (generic fixed-dose combination of stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine for treatment of advanced HIV infection) but also made sure that the medication—commonly known as “cocktail”—is available, as well as accessible, to those in need regardless of their financial status.

“She is a real-life hero ... She saved a lot of lives, and she’s still saving lives”, said the internationally acclaimed theatre director Ping Chong in Louisiana State University (LSU)’s The Daily Reveille, “It just shows that one person can make a difference”. No wonder Chong accepted the university’s Biology and Chemistry professor Vince LiCata’s proposal for him to co-write the play of the same name as Dr. Krisana’s drug, Cocktail, which debuted at LSU’s Swine Palace Theatre in 2007.

It took a bit longer, two years to be exact, for the Thai public to discover this American play about Thai heroine.

The Asian premiere of Cocktail was staged by Chulalongkorn University’s Dramatic Arts Department, with immense financial support from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, under the name Nangfa Niranam (literally, “anonymous angel”) at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre’s Studio 4 from August 20 to 30 to full-house audience, just in time to celebrate Dr. Krisana’s 2009 Magsaysay Award.

Touching, honest and refreshingly relevant, the play, featuring both student and professional thespians, was indeed one of the department’s most memorable productions in my recent memory.

Nangfa Niranam opened with the scenery of Dr. Krisana’s home island, Koh Samui, projected onto a row of white screens. Shortly after, a few white screens on the stage became semi-transparent to reveal the teenage Krisana along with and her grandmother, who was advising the girl to always do her best for others.

Throwing light on the way Krisana’s conviction had been cultivated from a young age, the scene added background to her superwoman character but also signalled the theme of the play a little too clumsily.

Although Nangfa Niranam was experimental in mixing spoken word, movement, dance and animation through 22 scenes, the audience didn’t need the highly academic director’s note on Postmodernism to follow the actions—all episodes, based on true events, were straightforward and seamlessly linked.

Veteran director Dangkamon Na-pombejra stayed true to the original script and its detailed stage directions most of the time, but also added his own quirky choreography and gestures for extra satirical bite, drawing our bittersweet laughter. This was evident during moments in which serious matters were juxtaposed with hilarity, showing how absurd human society has become.

In one scene, for example, the Public Health minister (played by Dr. Parida Manomaiphibul) ignored Dr. Krisana’s plea to extend availability of the drug to Africa as she had promised, preferring to check out new handbags, taste tea and dance a pas de trios with men in tights.

Bhanbhassa Dhubtien, the sole Thai member of New York’s the Actors’ Studio, excelled in the lead role. She was utterly believable in charting Dr. Krisana’s transition from an optimistic and ambitious pharmaceutical scientist to a disillusioned humanitarian who grew to understand the harsh realities of life yet never lost her hope and determination.

The final scenes re-enacted Dr. Krisana’s trip to the Republic of Congo by invitation of a small drug company’s owner whose heart, however, was big enough to want to cure all of his employees from AIDS.

The heart-rending action showed how the Congolese, ignored by the West and its multi-national pharmaceutical companies, rejoiced that salvation had arrived in the form of a small Thai woman.

Apart from celebrating, or glorifying, the humanism of its heroine, the play also delivers a more universal message—that developed countries do not always nurture developed minds, especially when capitalistic greed is the highest good.

Invited by the governor of Surat Thani and the 14 Southern Provincial Public Health Offices, Nangfa Niranam was restaged at Wang Tai Hotel on Friday, September 4, at 2pm and 7pm.