SINGAPORE — A Pichet Klunchun piece with club music and crazy strobe lights? Who would’ve thought?

Rather unexpected, yes, but the Thai choreographer hasn’t gone mental on us. It’s just that his latest, Nay Nai, plays out like a contest of sorts on who gets to be top dog, resulting in four hunky men, including Klunchun, dutifully whacking each other with heavy punching bags and doing the Royal Rumble.

In this TheatreWorks commission, an aspect of Thai history is funnelled into the hyperreal world of the reality TV contest. The title refers to the so-called “gentlemen-in-waiting” that served King Rama VI during the early 20th century as society’s elite actors, dancers, soldiers and athletes. Klunchun reimagines them as competitive, aggressive blokes vying for top prizes — in this case, four plastic costumes (with blinking lights) signifying the different roles or positions literally up for grabs as they hang over everyone’s heads.

It’s a pretty straightforward analogy as the performers undergo a series of “tests”, beginning with the intensely physical “jousting” session (damn, those bags looked really heavy). The complexity of the competition evolves: They take turns wrestling (or, for the younger peeps, MMA-ing) using rules apparently from that of a traditional Thai children’s game. Into this display of brute force slowly seeps the more familiar Khon choreography we associate with Klunchun’s company. Bits of humour and, unavoidably, hints of the homoerotic as sweaty half-naked men go pretzel-shaped on us, pinning each other to the ground.

Nay nai (the peeps) were supposedly assigned (employed for?) certain societal roles. Nay Nai (the piece) slowly peels back the facade, beginning with another segment where, after all that grunting and macho posturing, Klunchun introduces the feminine, enacting perfect female poses (that, to me, sometimes look straight out of classical Thai art, sometimes western) that the rest add on to create tableaus — which eventually come alive in the group’s non-verbal, Khon-style reenactment of some narrative (it’s apparently titled Mit Thae or “True Friends” and is King Rama VI’s adaptation of a 19th century western play called My Friend Jarlet).

If some of his previous works highlight and instruct us specifically on the different roles used in Khon dance/theatre, here he steps beyond just the art form and goes all societal on us — four men enacting male and female roles. That we know and identify these so easily points out just how codified these positions are, and we’re not just talking about what goes on onstage. (In fact, that’s one thing that’s quite intriguing about Thai society — the fluidity of notions of sexuality and gender that seemingly isn’t weighed down much by any moral baggage or simply have different conventions.)

It wraps up pretty much in a predictable way (well, it *is* structured like a contest…) and there are shades of “there’s something to be learned here” here as Klunchun is left sitting on a chair looking at the audience impassively, with an almost, well, royal bearing. As the audience continues to clap and the rest of his fellow “contestants” grin and wave, it feels almost sarcastic or cynical.

As to what specific political comment he’s making, I’d rather not venture a guess. Not so much because it’s apparently a potentially sensitive topic given what’s happening in Thailand right now but because I just used the word “apparently”. Can’t claim to know what other codes are embedded in this fun, unusual work from Klunchun. Stil, the guy deserves a fist bump.

Nay Nai runs until June 21, 8pm, at 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road. Tickets at S$35 from http://naynai.peatix.com. For enquiries, call 6737 7213 or email tworks [at] singnet.com.sg.