Boom!

Written by Jean Tay and directed by Tracie Pang, the play revolves around a mother and son (who’s a property agent) contending over an en bloc sale, where the mother refuses to sell while the son tries to persuade her otherwise. Each has their own reasons, one to hold on and the other to escape. On another platform, a civil servant trying to persuade a corpse to relocate. So how are these two related? Not just the relocation aspect, but the inter-relationship of the two incidents.

One reason I caught the show was because it was starring Sebastian Tan, who’s one of my favourite actors due to his versatility in both English and Chinese shows, plays and musicals, and even TV.

The show was funny at parts though a bit corny, especially when the corpse was doing his “lamentations”. It was a rather familiar context (except the talking to corpse part) but the actors played it out well.

Somehow, I felt the ending slightly sad, especially for the corpse. No one to claim it, and heartbreak on both sides as one party refuses to accept the truth, and forever a love lost. The things we hold on to, in a bid to believe. I was pretty moved by the filial son who stood by his mother all these years.

Come to think of it, why was it called “Boom”? Did it refer to the boom in the construction industry? The implicit reminder of the sound of construction work/progress? Not much mention, but I guess it was the underlying setting. Or maybe it referred to how the corpse became one? He was killed in a bus accident where there was probably an explosion. Or maybe the felling of the fig tree? A sign of loss? Or the calling out from the grave or even the beat of the heart?