the moustache brothers

The play was inspired by a letter-writing campaign in 1996 by Amnesty International on behalf of two comedians, U Par Par Lay and U Lu Zaw of the Moustache Brothers of Mandalay, put in jail for telling jokes about the dictators.

Company members Cilla Baynes and David Bell have separately watched The Moustache Brothers perform at their home in Mandalay. Amazingly, the comedians had heard of the burma play through the BBC World Service. The following is an extract from Cilla's article The Moustache Brothers: comedians of resistance for Red Pepper and Mailout magazines.

'The Moustache Brothers are what you would call an A-Nyient troupe. It's a form of Burmese Vaudeville with dance, song and yes, Cockney rhyming slang. There are two types of dance troupes in Burma: Zat and A-Nyient. Zat involves large troupes of seventy or more performers; an A-Nyient troupe has a much smaller number of dancers and musicians, a few stage helpers and up to 4 comedians.

As well as entertainment, the comedians are also important because they give the dancers a chance to change in between their routines. According to the writer Timothy Syrota, he was told by one of the Brothers: ‘Burmese people in history have always liked to hear Satire. Politics is the tradition of the Burmese comedian and for two hundred years we have made jokes about the government. This is what the comedian in A-Nyient does, comic but serious at the same time. This is traditional.'

'Satire is now a serious crime in Burma for which you can be imprisoned.

'Before 1996 they had earned a reasonable living as one of Burma's top comedy troupes performing at festivals, weddings and other events. On the 4th January 1996 at the NLD Independence day celebrations held at Aung San Suu Kyi's home in Rangoon, they performed comic sketches that poked fun at the government.

The audience shrieked with laughter. But the government spies present did not find it so funny. The next day both U Par Par Lay and U Lu Zaw, were rounded up by Military police and slung into Insein jail where along with many other thousands of political prisoners they were held without trial. They received seven years hard labour for making jokes against the State.

'After a prolonged and intense International campaign by Amnesty International and other groups, they were released in 2004 by which time Par Par Lay was very ill. Their families had also suffered because they were basically cut off from their only income source. Banned from further performances, they decided to take a gamble and they have since eked out a humble living by performing their A-Nyient show to tourists in their makeshift theatre in their home in the back streets of Mandalay.'

A full account of the comedian's arrest is given in Letters from Burma by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (Penguin)

After more than five years in jail, both were released, but in the Autumn 2007 crackdown, U Par Par Lay was briefly arrested once again.

See also www.moustachebrothers.com

TOP COMEDIAN ZARGANAR ARRESTED

The Moustache Brothers are not the only top comedians to be targeted by the regime. The following article appeared in Burma Campaign News Summer 2008:

Zargana, one of Burma's most popular comedians, was arrested on 4 June and was still in detention at the time of going to press. Zargana had organised a network of more than 400 volunteers to distribute urgently needed food aid to villagers affected by the cyclone. His arrest comes after he spoke publicly about shortcomings in the regime's aid efforts and the slow response by United Nations agencies.

Zargana has supported the struggle for freedom in Burma for many years. He was arrested in 1988 after taking part in the pro-democracy demonstrations and in 1990 he was jailed for four years and was held in solitary confinement. The regime has routinely harassed him by banning his films and performances. He was arrested in September 2007 for publicly supporting the protest by monks, and was detained for three weeks.

Link to: Zargarnar PDF from BCUK

This play is supported by



There are many oppressive regimes across the world; however Burma presents a combination of circumstances that makes a compelling case for action. As such, and in line with the call from democratically-elected representatives of the Burmese people, The Co-operative does not trade with Burma, The Co-operative Travel has delisted the country as a tourist destination, and The Co-operative Bank will not finance any commercial organisation with a significant presence in Burma.