Macalester College DigitalCommons@Macalester College Book Chapters Captive Audiences/Captive Performers 2014 Chapter 6a. "Chungkai Showcase": Chungkai Hospital Camp | Part One: Mid-October 1942 to Mid-May 1944 " Sears Eldredge Macalester College Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/thdabooks Recommended Citation Eldredge, Sears, "Chapter 6a. "Chungkai Showcase": Chungkai Hospital Camp | Part One: Mid-October 1942 to Mid-May 1944 "" (2014). Book Chapters. Book 16. http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/thdabooks/16 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Captive Audiences/Captive Performers at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Book Chapters by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. 184 Chapter 6: “Chungkai Showcase” Chungkai Hospital Camp Part One: Mid-October 1942 to to Mid-May 1944 FIGURE 6.1. CHUNGKAI THEATRE LOGO. HUIB VAN LAAR. IMAGE COPYRIGHT MUSEON, THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS. Though POWs in other camps in Thailand produced amazing musical and theatrical offerings for their audiences, it was the performers in Chungkai who, arguably, produced the most diverse, elaborate, and astonishing entertainment on the Thailand-Burma railway. Between Christmas 1943 and May 1945 they presented over sixty-five musical or theatrical productions. As there is more detailed information about the administration, production, and reception of the entertainment at Chungkai than at any other camp on the railway, the focus in this chapter will be on those productions and personalities that stand out in some significant way artistically, technically, or politically. To cover this material adequately, the chapter will be divided into two parts: Part One will cover the period from mid-October 1942 to mid-May 1944; Part Two, from mid-May 1944 to July 1945.