Hey cHEwY gum gums

It’s been a wild ride but Thai-riffic! Is finally hitting the stage next month. I’ve been following the journey, from the initial brainstorming to the script to the first reading and then first workshop performance.

I visited the cast and crew in the first week of rehearsals in Chatswood. They’re a lively bunch of characters…it’s still surreal to think these are characters that I’ve made hehe. I wish I could be more of a help with some of the Thai translations but my Thai is pretty rusty (how’s that for a Lengy trademark hehe) so my mum has stepped in and did some lines in English. Also I’m thankful that the stage manager grew up in Thailand for awhile and has made some cool Thai friends, so they’ve been teaching Lengy and his Dad Thai during rehearsals.

I think the best thing about this play is that it’s not a straight forward re-telling of my book. The playwright and fellow author buddy, Nathan Luff has done a marvellous job in capturing the essence of Thai-riffic! and brewed his own stew with some added spice and flair. In other words, he took all the best bits and made up a new storyline. Which is awesome because if you’ve read the book then you can get something out of the play, and if you’ve seen the play, you may be drawn to the book haha.

True to the book, there are some other transitions like comic animations and videos to break up the scenes too. My illustrator Evi is back on board to come up with some cool artworks and animations.

So yeah, it is a blessing to see Thai-riffic! appear on stage. 7 years on and it’s still making people laugh, now it gets to come to life! As for other things like TV or movies, well stay tuned hehe

O.W