Acting and dancing are inseparable, each step having a definite meaning which is emphasized by precisely defined music to suggest walking, marching, laughing, etc. Because some actors and actresses are masked and cannot speak, narrative verses are usually recited and sung by a chorus that sits with the accompanying woodwind, gong, and drum ensemble. The leading male and female performers do not wear masks and on some occasions they may speak. The ornate papier mache masks, decorated with gold, lacquer, and paste jewels, are works of art and perfectly portray the protagonists personalities. Costumes are made of rich brocades adorned with sparkling costume jewelry and closely resemble the apparel of royalty and celestial beings in classical Thai mural paintings.
Major characters are readily identifiable by the predominant colors of their costumes.
Phra Ram , the hero, wears deep green, while his brother, Phra Lak , wears gold and the monkey-god Hanuman wears white. Khon productions were originally so long more than 20 hours-that performances were staged on two consecutive days. King Rama II s shorter version of the epic is used for dramatic purposes and contemporary adaptations of certain episodes are as short as three hours. The main different between khon and lakhon can descripe like the following. Lakhon plots are drawn mainly from the Ramakian, the Jatakas, and folk stories, Khon and Lakhon costumes are identical, but Lakhon dance movements are more graceful, sensual, and fluid, the upper torso and hands being particularly expressive with conventionalized movements portraying specific emotions.