Storytelling theatre

One of the most interesting things I’ve ever seen in Laos is the Garavek theatre which performs “traditional Lao stories, told in English by a Lao storyteller, with the live music of khene, the quintessential Lao folk instrument.”  This was a very small theatre with just two performers – a storyteller and a musician who accompanied him on the khene, or pipes which have a distinctive sound – they are probably the Lao equivalent of bagpipes. 

Many of the stories were similar to the Grimms' fairytales – stories of giants, ogres, princes and princesses being variously banished and rescued from kingdoms, with body parts (eyes, hearts) ripped out and reinserted with no long term damage.  The performance was captivating; as the storyteller spun out his tales the time flew by.

Looking from the palace steps down the drive and up to Phu Si with the stupa at the top

Some of the tales were specific to Luang Prabang, and explained the creation of local landmarks.  One of the stories was about the hill, Phu Si, and how it came to exist just opposite the royal palace:

The queen at the time was an exacting woman, and one day she called the Monkey God to her and said, “Monkey God, I have a request for you.”  Now the Monkey God knew that he couldn’t refuse a request, no matter how pleasantly the queen phrased it, so he was very relieved to learn that she only had a fancy for some mushrooms and wanted him to bring her some.

 He was less pleased to learn that the mushrooms she fancied were in the forest on a hill in Oudomxay several hundred kilometres away but, as he had wings, he figured he’d fly there, gather the mushrooms, deliver them to the queen, and his duty would be done.  But when he returned with the mushrooms the queen said, “Oh, no, Monkey God, these are not the type of mushrooms I want!”

 The Monkey God returned to Oudomxay and returned with a big armful of different mushrooms.  Still they were not the mushrooms the queen desired, and the Monkey God again returned to the forest in Oudomxay.

 This time, when he returned again with mushrooms, but again not the type the queen fancied, he said to the queen, “Your Majesty, if you could just tell me the name of the mushrooms you desire I will go immediately to Oudomxay and return with the mushrooms!”  But the queen said she couldn’t tell him the name of the mushrooms.  She couldn’t tell him, because she wanted ‘monkey’s ear’ mushrooms, and she was afraid to offend the Monkey God if she told him the name of the mushrooms she wanted.

 So the Monkey God returned to the forest in Oudoumxay, but every time he returned with mushrooms which were not those the queen desired.  In the end, the Monkey God picked up the top of the hill and carried it all back to Luang Prabang, where he placed it outside the palace and said to the queen, “Your Majesty, I have brought the top of the forest of Oudoumxay to you, so you will be able to select your own mushrooms from all the types in Oudoumxay forest!”  And that is why Phu Si is just outside the palace in Luang Prabang.

From the Mekong: the palace in the trees (foreground) with the stupa at the top of Phu Si behind it