Burma's Moustache Brothers killing audiences, avoiding arrest
| Mandalay, Burma
鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
鈥淐ome to Burma, but don鈥檛 steal,鈥� says the slim and jovial Lu Maw, pausing for the punch line: 鈥淭he government don鈥檛 like competition!鈥� The crowd of 10 tourists, including six Thai monks huddled in a small garage in Mandalay, laugh.
Despite several arrests, prison terms, and the fact that they鈥檙e now confined to their house, the Moustache Brothers, the infamous Burmese comedy and performance troupe centered around three brothers, haven鈥檛 give up their craft. Two of the three, Par Par Lay and Lu Zaw, served seven years of forced labor after criticizing the junta during a performance at the home of Aung San Suu Kyi in 1996, at a time when the Nobel Peace Prize winner was not under house arrest. Their plight was later taken up by Amnesty International.
Though they鈥檙e confined to performing at home, and in English, the brothers have retained some of the show鈥檚 original satirical criticism of the regime but are limited by language and a foreign audience. Most of the show is given to jokes based on Lu Maw鈥檚 knowledge of English idioms (鈥淢y father died; he kicked the bucket!鈥�) and pleas for tourists to visit the impoverished country. Those foreigners who do come inevitably end up in the Mandalay back street, happily watching a condensed version of the once-glorious comedy-and-dance show and buying souvenir T-shirts.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the same as when we traveled around the country playing to the Burmese,鈥� says Lu Maw. Nonetheless, the brave brothers say the show must go on. And go on it does.
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