Sunday, February 14, 2010

"On the Origins of Theater Projects" - The Trang Rama - Trang, Thailand

It's time to give credit where credit is due. If it weren't for the timely and informed cajoling of a certain comrade here in Chiang Mai, the SEA Theater Project would not be. I had been mulling over the idea of documenting Thailand's old movie theaters for some time before the aforementioned chimed in. This friend and former denizen of my birth city - the City of Brotherly Love - was quick to see that archiving these waning artifacts of Thai social life was a worthy cause. Sometimes its just that little nod of approval that makes the difference between thought and action. So here's to the bright ideas of "Omae Desu," my dear friend and inspiration for this blog, without whom I might have actually graduated from school by now.

Having said all that, I'll be long dead before he ever submits text to go along with the photos he took of the Trang Rama. So I'll take it upon myself and synthesize.

Truck n' Trang Rama


Obscured to the quarter
How the lower half looks

Full frontal

70.00 Baht

Hand-painted hoardings for "Jija: Naughty, Beautiful, Stubborn" and "G.I. Joe" bring color to the Trang Rama. Jija had some really well choreographed fight scenes, but ultimately fell short of being praiseworthy. I will boycott G.I. Joe to the grave.

Buppha Rahtree 3.2 hand painted

The owner of the Trang Rama continues to employ artists to paint movie billboards by hand. For that reason alone they get respect.

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