“The military is protecting our country and some people don’t appreciate its value,” he said.

Thangyat performances are a form of role reversal in which the authorities permit ordinary people to say things that would not otherwise be tolerated, said Christina Fink, a Myanmar expert at George Washington University and the author of a 2009 book about survival under military rule in the country, which is also known as Burma.

“This type of ritual of reversal allows people to let off steam, but also communicates important information to those in power, if they are willing to listen,” she said. The tradition dates to at least the time of Burma’s penultimate king, Mindon, who ruled from 1853 to 1878, she said.

For decades after the Myanmar Army, known as the Tatmadaw, seized power from a civilian government in 1962, the ruling junta allowed public thangyat performances, with restrictions. When the junta banned the performances outright in 1989, some thangyat performers moved to India and beyond, and CDs of their shows were occasionally smuggled back into their home country.

Thangyat censorship eased “a little bit” under a government that ruled Myanmar for a few years before the landmark 2015 elections that brought Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party to power, said U Thiha, 70, a composer of thangyat lyrics.

Over all, Mr. Thiha said, censorship is looser under Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi than it was under the last government. For example, he said, her government censors words instead of entire paragraphs.

“I submit my lyrics for censorship because I believe they are written in my country’s best interests,” he added.