A troupe of Burmese folk singers and satirists are taking their new show on a jungle tour, hoping to rally anti-coup fighters far from their families with barbs against Myanmar’s junta and jokes about home.
Myanmar has been in chaos since a coup in February last year sparked renewed fighting with ethnic rebels and sprouted dozens of “people’s defense forces” that have battled the junta across the country.
In eastern Kayin State, the “Peacock Generation” troupe are trying to boost morale with traditional thangyat performances of poetry, comedy and satirical songs against the junta.
Photo: AFP
Near the Thai border, their makeshift tour bus — with a three-finger salute popular with democracy protesters in Hong Kong and Thailand painted on one side — bumps along a dusty track to a camp. Upon arrival, the unfazed troupe of about 15 mostly young performers rehearse their lines.
“We are expecting the battle like we hope for rains,” they sing, stepping in unison across a makeshift stage, accompanied by drums and cymbals. “Let’s start the bullets raining.”
Slam-poetry-like thangyat is traditionally performed around Myanmar’s new year’s festival, and has been used for centuries to poke fun at politics and society, and vent against injustices small and large.
However, the Burmese military has waged a brutal crackdown on dissent since the coup.
More than 1,700 civilians have been killed and more than 13,000 people arrested, including dozens of journalists, a local monitoring group said. A handful of media outlets have also been forced to shut down.
At the camp, some young fighters in camouflage uniforms sit cross-legged, some clapping along.
“We also want to live like you — peacefully with cigarettes and coffee,” the troupe sings to a row of smartphones in the audience — a message that they hope will reach those sitting at home when the performance is broadcast online later.
“We are still young and we are missing our mothers who always scold us,” they sing.
The few dozen at the camp are some of the hundreds, according to analyst estimates, who have trekked into border areas held by Myanmar’s established rebel groups to receive weapons training.
“Thangyat gives us some freedom of expression in our culture,” said veteran performer Zay Yar Lwin, 32, who fled to the jungle after the coup and refounded the Peacock Generation group he had performed with in previous years.
Thangyat performances are usually held in streets and parks at the Thingyan festival that welcomes in the new year and is usually marked by boisterous water fights in the streets, but celebrations have this year been muted, as many stay away from junta-sponsored events.
“Most of what we’re saying is targeting the military dictatorship,” Zay Yar Lwin said.
However, they also tease the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) dominated by lawmakers from ousted Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, which is working to overturn the coup, for failing to secure the weapons anti-coup fighters say they need.
“Are we getting weapons from the NUG?” the troupe leader calls.
“Yeah we are, but only wind guns,” comes the response, a jibe implying that the opposition body is all talk and no action.
Rebel recruit Ma Yu, 30, said she feels especially homesick during the festival season because under normal circumstances, she would celebrate with a feast at home with her parents and family.
“But I felt blessed while watching others practicing for the performance, and so I joined it to have a new experience,” she said.
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