Emily Of Emerald Hill

Event: Emily of Emerald Hill (as part of the Singapore Arts Festival 2010)
Venue: Victoria Theatre
Run: 11th Jun – 13th Jun 2010

So I was at “Emily of Emerald Hill” the other night, which played to a full house at the Victoria Theatre.

Apparently it is one of the highlights of this year’s Singapore Arts Fest because firstly, “Emily” is one of the iconic works of Singapore theatre, and secondly, it features the great thespian Margaret Chan reprising the role which she performed to acclaim 25 years ago.

I shan’t go too much into Stella Kon’s play, but let me just say that I think Margaret Chan definitely made the play what it is.

I’ve got the feeling that “Emily” might not have been “Emily” had it not been for Margaret Chan.

But this is just my own opinion.

Margaret Chan is truly one of our blessed gifts in local theatre.

One thing that struck me was when co-director Jeremiah Choy concluded at the end of the post-show dialogue session saying like “We have the (theatre) talent here. Support local talent.”

This was obviously in reference to the fact that “Emily” was a completely Singaporean product – written, directed, produced and performed by Singaporeans.

And I totally agree.

I think we’ve definitely got what it takes in the local theatre scene.

We’ve got the writers, the producers, the directors, the actors, the designers, etc.

We’ve got what it takes.