Synopsis from the pamphlet: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome ot our jazz club, right here in the middle of nowhere. Tonight, we will serve you the usual: this one will play the piano, and the other will sing and tell you some stories. Like the tale of his dead lover, who has come back to haunt him.
You see, his lover appeared to him in his dreams and said, ‘let me possess you, body and soul, for a few hours each night. There are songs I must sing, stories I must tell, but I can only do it as you. Besides, we will be together again. Is that not what you have been praying for?’
So will he agree to take a bite off the forbidden fruit? Or perhaps he has already been bewitched, bothered and bewildered? Sit back, relax and listen to the jazz that he’ll sing. Then maybe, just maybe, you’ll find out a little something about that ole devil called love.
The Devil’s Encore is written and directed by award-winning playwright Bryan Tan, performed by Robin Goh and accompanied by Julian Wong on piano. It presentes a bitter-sweet meditation on the duality of life and death, love and loss, against a haunting medley of jazz standards.
Haunting, yes, in the bad way. This show is one hour too long and one song too many. I never liked musicals because I’m not a musical soul so I can’t see what is it that music can say that words can’t. The best emotions are usually silent. We don’t say empty vessels make the the most voice for nothing. I don’t understand the point of the jazz apart from being the setting. It does not add to the plot, if there is a plot in the first place. It was, of course, unresolved except through the serendipitous departure of the pianist. Was the pianist his dead lover? It didn’t seem that way. The tosh about the story of the king who built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon – to what end does it serve? Simiarly, what about that oversized bonsai? What exactly is it supposed to be? And come on, the lighting was crap. That colour is so awful on skin and lends nothing to the intended ambience.
I am disappointed, definitely. I don’t even know why I was taken in by the advertisement in the first place knowing that there would be jazz. It’s not like I don’t like jazz, but it’s the singing component interspersed in the show that gets to me. I expected less singing, and frankly, better singing. I am not picking on his singing skills (I know nothing of that sort), it was an overall feel of his rendition that didn’t feel right.
So fortunately today was the last run so I don’t have to tell anyone not to go watch it – you can’t even if you wanted to. Unless, of course, they decide to rehash it some time from now. In which case I would urge you to seriously reconsider. That money could be better spent on more worthy productions.
I watched the last show as well. It was alright, but not spectacular. I expected more. The music was good, Julian a blast, but the story lacking in some ways. The house was half empty as well!