Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to examine the methods of performance development of actors/actresses for creating local characters identity in Thai television drama. The new approaches or techniques can be further applied on developing actors/actresses skills on performance. This study is qualitative research, which data were collected by using In-Depth Interview technique; 12 respondents who are experts on casting, coaching, and developing actors/actresses were included. Moreover, as a coach of southern dialect, I illustrated my process of coaching an actress of a drama names Sam-pa-tarn-hua-jai (The Heart Concession), seen as a participant observation method in the study. The research results indicate the local characters identities in 5 diverse ways; they are appearances, attires, traditions and culture, dialects, and performing arts. These identities can be divided into 2 groups as follows: 1) The local identities of the characters that were created by the TV drama production team are appearance (by casting), attires, and traditions and culture 2) the local identities of characters that must be trained and coached are local dialects and local performing arts. Both groups of local identities are conducted under the working process of TV drama production team as well as the learning and practising process of actors/actresses themselves in developing the local characters identities.