On This Emerald Hill is a one-actor play by Jonathan Lim. It mashes Stella Kon’s Emily of Emerald Hill with Kuo Pao Kun’s The coffin is too big for the hole. The play starts with Emily arranging a high-tea session over the phone after paying respect to the graves of her husband and son. At the cemetery she comes across Liao, who is trying to get his father’s coffin into a standard size grave. The play them proceeds to Emily trying to help Liao coerce the authorities into bending the rules. Within the play, Lim makes reference to many of Kuo’s famous plays by mention; not a true homage to Kuo but enough to tickle the Kuo fans in the audience.

Jonathan Lim exhibits his strong acting skills in this play, playing four separate roles that transition from second to second at some juncture. Through simple “costume change” which really is the use of cell phones and a little yellow hanky, and the change in posture and voice, Lim channels each character convincingly. In such instances, exaggeration, unfortunately, is key. Jonathan’s Emily is sufficiently bitchy but not losing the stubbornness and underlying vulnerability Kon intended. What tickled me most was watching Ivan Heng watch this version – I believe Emily Gan is the singular character than most male thespian has played.

The production was held in the Chambers at the Arts House; I have never been in the Chambers and this was very interesting for me. The audience was seated in the MP seats, and Jonathan paced about in the middle. It is an interesting space; on one hand it is like a black box, on the other hand it is a historically charged venue not without blame. Nonetheless it is always delightful to explore new theatre spaces in Singapore.

Overall I really enjoyed this production.

This production is experiential theatre at its best; I shall not divulge much for fear of spoiling the show for everyone, but the show started before we were seated. It was a very moving experience, one that made me question myself even days after watching. I delayed writing this post because I wanted to sort out my feelings towards theatre, and towards censorship. Too many what-ifs cloud my judgement. Overall, I really enjoyed this production.

This post is overdue – blame it on my reluctance to choose blogging over reading and The Sims 3. I watched a Thursday evening show of Cooling Off Day, alongside a motley crowd of theatre people (e.g. Robin Goh), frequent theatergoers and fresh never-gone-to-theatre-before virgins (you can totally tell these lot from their brimming excitement in the foyer). Successful publicity then, I’d say.

Written by Alfian Sa’at based on interviews, blog posts and newspaper articles of the time around the 2011 General Election, Cooling Off Day is a play made up of multiple narratives and voices. Every race and creed seems to be represented in the play, and some misrepresented, which I assume is the effect to be achieved. There is the Chinese masseurs praising our governance, the Malay pakai tudong macik subverting racial stereotypes, and the reproduction of Mr Brown’s Teochew mee skit.

The play strikes to me as trying to find a balance between the serious politics of ISA detainees, and the laugh-out-loud funny antics. Some of the audience hated the politics, claiming it was dry and dragged out. Others, praised the bold move of this production. Me? I didn’t understand the point behind certain things, for example the East-West dialectic (in the sense of East side Singapore versus West Side Singapore) that keeps resurfacing throughout the play.

But I enjoyed the play, definitely. The funny moments were funny, the serious moments were serious. Some things I didn’t like, the rest I adored. I wish they would restage this so more people can catch it.

Charged is a play by Teater Ekamatra, as part of the Man Singapore Theatre Festival. The play starts off with the death of two NSmen on Chinese New Year Eve- one Chinese, the other one Malay. The coroners report that a single gunshot killed the Malay boy, while the Chinese boy committed suicide with his own rifle kneeling down. The play then proceeds with a series of increasingly postmodernist testimonies of the other three NSmen in camp, and also the involvement of the mothers of the two boys.

Clearly, the issue at hand is racism and identity in Singapore. What I liked was how they highlight the fractal recursivity of racism and nationalism in Singapore – on one level it’s Chinese vs Malay, on the other level it’s Chinese Chinese vs Singaporean Chinese. I also liked how they subvert the idea of the Malay cliche. It’s rare to see outward portrayal of racism in plays – the incessant mention of Chinese babi and the likes. It’s bold, and I like it.

However, I didn’t like the fact there is no value-addedness. There’s not much point rehashing what we already know – I want to know how to strike that balance between being colour-blind and being racially sensitive. To me it’s always mutually exclusive, these two. The play has done nothing to help me figure out how to place myself racially in Singapore – while I am always Singaporean first I am made to remember there are others unlike me. There is no excuse for ignorance, and blatant disregard in the name of colour-blindedness is clearly not enough. How do we place ourselves here in Singapore?

Apart from race relations and identity, the play is political in highlighting certain observations of army policies and procedures, what most of us already know but can’t or won’t talk about it. Again, where is the value-addedness in this play? My immediate after-show Twitter comment is – I am not sure what I should be feeling. Which is right; even after a few days of stewing and reflection, I still can’t find one thing about the play that touches me. A shame, I suppose.

*Note: Charged is rated M18, the highest rating possible for theatre in Singapore. Not surprising at all.

Image taken from http://www.mansingaporetheatrefestival.com/

My sister won tickets in a Facebook contest for a matinee Cirque Eloize (ay-lua-z) show, titled iD, and she kindly gave me the pair of tickets and I roped KL in to go watch! I watched the trailer on Youtube, and frankly, I wasn’t stoked by the trailer.

The real show, is a different story. The stunts were at times edge-of-our-seats dangerous and outright scary, and at times funny and entertaining. Like Cirque de Soleil, Cirque Eloize is from Canada, specifically, Montreal. But unlike Soleil, Eloize is very performative. What do I mean by that? The cast is very aware of the audience, at times gesturing for claps and cheers and even asking for volunteers, whereas a Soleil show is, more distant and compact in itself. I prefer the latter. Not big on this audience inclusion thing. I suppose it’s really because Eloize is a travelling troupe; they certainly do not have the luxury of crazy sets like the permanent Soleil troupes in Vegas. It’s a same; I’d like a Soleil to come set up shop in one of the IRs in Singapore.

One of my favourite stunts, the one stunt that wow-ed me was the trampoline. I found this video, among others, from Youtube. Not the best angle to show, but I really adore it.

I like how bouncing back instantly makes it seem like you rewound a tape and reverse the action. It’s so elegant and stunning. Really liked this bit. Can’t say the same about the others, pretty run-of-the-mill circus things. They haven’t been able to integrate stunts and tricks into some overarching storyline like Soleil does, which is also why I said Eloize is more performative because each trick not built into a greater arc of some sort. I think they tried to incorporate a rival gang romance element in iD, but seriously? It’s not coming through.

And the following is the most graceful stunt, KL’s favourite.

Would I have paid for Cirque Eloize? No, definitely not. Soleil, I will.

And on a parting note – Marina Bay Sands Grand Theatre has the worse design EVER. Our tickets were stall seats, row N (presumably row 14). I was permanently blocked by heads in front of me. The gradient of the front seats are not steep enough, and it really is a bummer for people who pay good money for them.

*Spoiler Alert!*

The second show I caught as part of the Esplanade The Studios season this year is A True Calling, a production by Ex-Theatre Asia. True Calling is staged in Mandarin, Taiwanese and Manipuri (Indian regional language) by two actors. The play tells of a folktale involving The Actor, who acts for a living. Broke, he decides to play the role of a monk, hoping that his stellar performance will earn him some money.The Monk visits the Merchant, a stingy man who is troubled by familial issues. The Monk stays 3 months with the Merchant teaching him and thereby relieving him of his troubles. At the end of the 3 months, the Merchant swears to give up his fortune for peace, only to have the Actor reveal his true identity and call an end to the act. Devastated and jolted out of his reverie, the Merchant gives the Actor only one small gold coin. Concurrently, the King hears about the Actor and invites him to court to put up a performance. The King makes the Actor play the role of the Devil. In return, the Actor makes the King promise to be responsible for whatever outcome. The morning after, the Devil appears and kills the King’s brother in the act. Enraged and yet unable to execute the Actor, the King thinks of a plan – the Actor shall play one last role as a consort determined to follow her husband in death.

The play had sur-titles for the Mandarin portion, but not the Manipuri. The movements, gestures and intonation of the Actor is more than sufficient to convey the messages. An actor is always first mimetic, and in  that, not all semiotic resources are needed for powerful messages. Some of the audience are doubly blind- those who don’t understand Manipuri and Mandarin. I wonder what sort of experience that is, to not understand a word said but still understand every nuance made. The set is beautiful; long spokes and ladder resembling a birdcage invoking concepts of safe havens and entrapment. Actors who are trapped in their roles, and yet enjoy every minute of it.

The plot left a very strong impression in me; there’s more than the play-within-a-play structure. To me, this play is able to deconstruct all plays; how the success of mimesis depends on the audience’s willingness to suspend their disbelief. Not only that, in the scenario of perfect mimicry, to break this suspension is tantamount to fall from grace. The Merchant wished that the Actor didn’t reveal himself, so that he can live in that storyline he has put so much heart into. Like life, sometimes we fear to dream because we fear to awake.

I enjoyed this play tremendously, definitely much more than Desire.

Desire At The Melancholic String Concert (henceforth Desire) is produced by Cake Theatrical Productions as part of the Esplanade Studio Season, my favourite arts festival/ season in Singapore. This year, the theme appears to be Music and Sound. Cake Theatre, in collaboration with indie band Tiramisu brings a small-scale musical-like production into a black box. Yes, indeed, they brought two guitars, one bass, one drum set and a keyboard and synthesizer into a black box. More than just mere accompaniment, these musicians are made visible unlike your typical large-scale musicals. These musicians not only play music, but act. Choreographed moves break the monotony of the band.

The play consists of four connected stories all exploring the issues of subjugation and revolt. Minah and Desire, supermarket cashiers, yearn to break out from their dead end jobs. Desire’s non-functioning brother needing to escape his mind and Desire needing to escape her duties. Jasmine resolves avenge and torture the Bandit King. A ruler needing to quell an escalating revolution. All in all – the powerless want change but don’t know how.

In the entire play, there are few spoken lines, but lots of singing. Different musical genres were explored, which is interesting. However, my personal disability to discern words when sung has resulted in my inability to enjoy the show as much as I would like to. That is a pity. However, what my bad auditory processing lacked, the visual made up for it. Siti Khalijah (2011 Life! Theatre Award Best Actress for Model Citizens) and Rizman Putra are spectacular actors. Like I expected any less from them. And they can sing! Actors who can sing always impress me more, because, well, that’s something I can’t do – I can’t hold a note to save my life.

That said, I enjoyed Desire. It’s certainly enjoyable to see how small black box theatre can integrate live music. Despite my despise for musicals, I think this isn’t too bad. I know I should be able to regard music as a separate additional semiotic resource, but I am still yet to be convinced on how it is, to be blunt, good.

I really liked their programme booklet! It is folded and put in an envelope like a love letter.

Apart from the programme booklet, I have to say I wasn’t entirely too impressed by the plays. Of the five, some had obvious strengths in the plot and acting over others. Admittedly, the overall acting of this group is much better than that of Faithworks. I enjoyed the intricate acting by the “old couple” (played by young people) in Play 5 and also the flamboyant matchmaker in Play 3.

All in all I enjoyed the plays and I think the rest of the audience had a great time too.

Balek Kampong by The Necessary Stage (TNS) tells two tales concurrently- one about championing freedom of speech in a regime, one about leaving home. In the first we see how foreign reporter ex-Singapore R faces detention by the authorities for writing misconstrued truths, how exchange student A gets expelled for the slightest reason, and how T remains an unwitting civil servant. In the second tale a girl with two mummies drift from kampong to kampong in search of one where people don’t judge and don’t mind. She later leaves this batty family in search of what she believes is a better life.

In the post-show discussion we learnt that the process of writing this play started with a title, and the actors, and then the text. The title Balek Kampong has different meanings to different people; to some, it’s going home. To some, it’s dying. The polysemy is explored in this play alongside the issues of oppression and freedom. T mentions that Singaporeans don’t mind giving up freedom of speech and human rights for stability, wealth and safety. This is a position I hold; the trade-off is too great for most Singaporeans, who live their lives here, to fathom. R insists that even if we complain and rant, that doesn’t mean we love Singapore less. Student A tries to hold a forum discussing Malaysia-Singapore relation, and because her invited speaker is a national enemy she gets expelled from the university, but the cited reason is breaching safety rules by having a fridge in her dorm. I liked this trivialized reason for expulsion – it gives her no glory and no dignity; it tells her and everyone that her fight was in vain. She is given no satisfaction of having fought and lost to the regime; this is such a classic move.

I found the juxtaposition of religion very quaint. T is a Christian, clearly used to forgoing free will and freedom under religious doctrine. What I didn’t get was how R is still a Hindu; for a person romanticized about freedom and happiness, how can she live an indoctrinated life? Is Haresh Sharma trying to tell us that religion is NOT the anti-thesis to freedom? I can’t agree with that, I’m afraid. Having somewhere to seek solace- does that make R weaker or stronger? I can’t tell, really. Also, as usual with TNS’ plays, post-modernist dialogue was plentiful; it is always so recognizable. Not that I don’t like it, but sometimes I feel such things are just a move with no inherent value to them.

Something New, Something Old is a double-bill production in commemoration of Faithworks’ 10th anniversary. Faithworks, despite the name, is not a religious organization but a theatre group for the community, by the community. Frankly, I didn’t know they existed before this. And guess what? Their space is so near my house I can walk there. Anyway, the double-bill consists of two plays – Getting Married with Dad Dead Next Door by Dora Tan and The Bench by Henry Seow.

Getting Married, as the title aptly suggests, is about a couple getting married while the father’s dead body occupies the adjoining room. Seraphina flys home with her angmoh boyfriend for 5 hours to get married the Chinese way in their Toa Payoh flat. Her father died in the night before the wedding, but her mother decides to carry on with the ceremony. This play tries to explore some kind of tradition versus modernity (hence something new, something old) dichotomy that surfaces in a cross-cultural marriage.

The Bench is a collection of snippets of people who use a particular park bench; the homeless man who sleeps on it, the father-daughter pair who sits on it during their morning walk, a loving couple and their bench proposal, a dysfunctional family and their quarrels, etc etc. There were laugh out loud moments, and also tear-jerking ones. This play reflects life, basically.

After watching these two plays, I felt slightly disturbed. I never thought I could get sick of realist plays; I always thought I’m quite the fan. Perhaps I’ve been watching too many avant-garde productions I forget how, well, real plays like this can get. Coupled with the slightly predictable plots, they plays weren’t stimulating at all. Frankly, I expected too much to even be fair. I possibly went with the desire to want to read too much into things and came out unaccomplished because I couldn’t find anything to read too much into. And for some strange reason, I found it hard to empathize with the characters. Maybe it’s the acting; these actors aren’t professionals after all. I’m too spoilt by admittedly the same few good actors I am often on the verge of being unforgiving.

I think if I have to sum up my feelings of this double-bill in one short sentence, I’d say this is si bay retro. Retro in the sense it reminds me of the good ol’ simple realist drama days. Retro in the sense of “lights fade out characters exit stage right” days. I am not putting a judgment value on anything, it just is really different from what I have been watching.