Buttons In The Bread

Event: “And Then There Was One” by spell#7 (as part of the NUS Arts Festival 2013)
Venue: NUS Baba House
Run: 9th, 10th, 13th – 17th, 20th & 22nd March 2013

Murder At The Blue Mansion

It’s not often we come across interactive audio-based play adventures, much less ones involving a murder mystery, so this one was a refreshing experience.

The last time I recall attending something like this was “Songbird” at last year’s Singapore Arts Fest, which proved to be a rather engaging affair in itself.

Truth be told, there was little to go by based on spell#7’s event description alone, and neither had I visited the NUS Baba House before, so I had hardly any preconceived notions before attending the play.

It took a slight bit of effort to locate 157 Neil Road, but the moment I arrived and took in the splendour of the Straits Chinese heritage house with the distinct blue exterior, I had a good feeling about what was to unfold.

After having had a bit of time to hang around in the main hall to soak in the atmosphere, we were each given a pocket-sized booklet with vital information pertaining to the play, along with an MP3 audio player, after which we were told to proceed with the hour-long journey.

The play is loosely based on the actual case of the 1926 Neil Road murder, whereby a young Chinese man by the name of Edward Tan was allegedly murdered by a gang of robbers, with his sister Dr Helen Tan (originally Dr Hannah Tan) and detective Dixon (originally Dickenson) being the main characters in the play.

The play consists of twelve distinct scenes each written by a different writer, and because of the fact that I was only made aware of this after the play, I had no suspicion of this whatsoever during the play itself, which suggests that the overall writing and construction of the play was largely seamless, with imperceptible differences in tone.

The voices were enacted by well-known theatre practitioners such as Daniel Jenkins, Tan Kheng Hua, Isabella Chiam and Edward Choy, which made the roles seem highly believable.

While the general storyline wasn’t too different from your typical noir detective plot, with elements of secret love affairs and all, I thought the creative team did a pretty good job in drawing up a story which made it critical that the participant visit and explore the entire Baba House, together with the House’s surrounding elements such as the back alleys, the church and the nearby shophouses.

It was the weaving together of all these various elements in a highly relevant manner into the story which I thought was masterful.

Not to mention ending off the play at the House’s rooftop – an impressively picturesque view especially in the evening – which was a beautiful way to cap off the entire journey.

The pacing of the play was good, and it literally kept you on the move constantly without dwelling too long in a specific location.

There seemed to be just enough time given to move from one location to the next – not more, not less.

However, while most of the audio instructions with regards to where to proceed to next were clear enough, there were moments where I wasn’t exactly sure where I was supposed to go, or whether I was on the right track.

There was one location in particular – the tracks at the far end near Blair Road – which took me awhile to get to because I wasn’t very sure if I was supposed to be making my way there during the play.

(Tip: Although the organisers would encourage you to experience the journey on your own, it would be advisable to synchronise your journey with a friend so that you can assure each other that you are both on the right track.)

The entire play is audio-based, meaning that apart from visiting the various locations, there are no live performers to see.

Care should be taken though, especially when crossing the many roads in the vicinity, since you are constantly listening intently to the play on your earphones.

And while “Songbird” was based around the Esplanade Park area, “And Then There Was One” has the added advantage of not only being staged in the actual Neil Road district (where the 1926 murder took place), but also being set in an immaculately-preserved Straits Chinese ancestral home, which makes the entire experience seem that much more authentic, as if you were actually being whisked back to the 1920’s just for that one hour.

Even if I wasn’t able to follow the entire audio play as closely as I wanted to, and missed out on details here and there because I was busy taking in all the sights and sounds of Neil Road, I thought that in terms of the overall experience, “And Then There Was One” was a highly enjoyable one and was surely one of the most entertaining interactive plays I’ve ever attended.

Event: Twelve Angry Men 十二怒汉 by Nine Years Theatre (九年剧场)
Series: Huayi Festival 2013
Venue: Esplanade Theatre Studio
Run: 15-17 Feb 2013
Written by Reginald Rose
Translated/Directed by: Nelson Chia 谢燊杰

In the wake of experiencing the discourse, I had come into the theatre thinking that the jury system depicted was a reference to the now abolished jury system of Singapore  (before 1964), despite the original setting in America, based on the time period. Thus, I did not sense any irrelevance of this system, which formed part of the discussion in the post-show dialogue.

Maybe it was a good thing that it didn’t cross my mind, because in any case, whether it was a jury system or not, the setting or time period was not of consequence, as the social issues addressed still applies till this day, and in every country, maybe to different extents. You had the new citizen who tries to fit into the community and who tries to contribute to society; you have the heavily biased snob who treats the poor or slump-born as dirt or savages; the fence-sitter who sways to the majority vote; the poor who made good; the resentful/broken-hearted who brings in his emotional baggage in his judgement; and of course the logical mind who gave good arguments and started the whole contention and eventually convincing all (almost) to change their votes. Interesting at how these people exist in our society and how each individual’s biases or even indifference would shape a conviction and determine the life and death of someone else, whether figuratively or literally.
How scary it is, as Nelson mentioned, that a person’s fate is determined by 12 people in the jury system, and now in Singapore, by 1 man. Although contentious for some, the latter seems a bit more objective as technically, he would through his legal training, better evaluate evidence to make the judgement. However, what is circumstantial and circumstance? How solid is an argument and subjective is it?

Another note here is the demonstration of the flexibility of theatre in its ability to address issues across time and space, and in different contexts such as this to provoke thought. A commendable first outing by Nine Years Theatre.

Maybe to end off, if you asked me at the end of the day if I thought the boy was guilty, I would say I don’t know, but it was not beyond reasonable doubt that he was guilty, for that was what the jury had to prove, disregarding their biases or background. I personally thought that the 疑点 could be questioned and a re-trial carried out. But through this, the flaws of being human is displayed, but it is what make us human. A good thing there is the appeal system available, which interestingly, might overturn the first conviction. Unpredictable isn’t it?

Event: “We Are Like This Only!” by HuM Theatre
Venue: Goodman Arts Centre Black Box
Run: 26th Feb – 3rd Mar 2013

Rattle and HuM

It’s been awhile since I was back at the review desk.

Apologies for that.

My first review of the year concerns HuM Theatre’s “We Are Like This Only!” – its first foray into the realm of forum theatre, after staging well-received plays in each of the past three years in the form of “Rafta Rafta” (2010), “Prisoner of Mumbai Mansion” (2011) and “The Kanjoos” (2012).

It is written by Gauri Gupta and directed by the ever-lovable Daisy Irani, and stars the foursome of Daisy, Rishi Budhrani, Sharul Channa and Sivakumar Palakrishnan.

Daisy’s husband, the irrepressible and incredibly gifted Subin Subaiah dons the role of moderator in this exercise and conducts the pre-show and post-show proceedings.

“We Are Like This Only!” tackles the issue of integration specifically as it pertains to the Indian diaspora here in Singapore, what with the notion of the “new Indians” from India versus the incumbent “old Indians” who were born and bred in Singapore.

And while this issue has been around for years, the timing of this play couldn’t have come at a more poignant time, especially so after the recent furore concerning the hot-button Population White Paper and the unfortunate anti-immigrant sentiments that were subsequently generated as a result.

So in many ways you could view “We Are Like This Only!” as a microcosm of the current Singapore zeitgeist, even though it certainly opened my eyes to this particular divide between the “new” and “old” Indians in Singapore which I was hitherto highly unfamiliar with.

The main bulk of the show is an hour-long series of loosely-related skits, whereby the four actors play a variety of roles while exploring the central theme of Indian integration.

Some portray “old Indians” and some portray “new Indians”, who may sometimes be perceived in some quarters as loud, brash and arrogant.

The writer employs the device of the “invisible interviewer” throughout the skits so as to bring out the innermost sentiments of the characters, and it is through these ruminations that the heart of the issues are truly explored and brought to light.

It goes without saying that many of the skits’ subject matter and references clearly cater to an Indian audience, what with an entire skit poking fun at the idiosyncrasies of the game of cricket, or the heavy use of Indian colloquialism and in-jokes, but ultimately even for a non-Indian viewer there is plenty to learn about with regards to this fascinating divide.

The cast of four actors were all highly competent and entertaining to watch, and while Sivakumar Palakrishnan stood out for me in the skits portion of the show, I thought Sharul Channa was in her element especially in the improvisational segment at the end of the show.

The very essence of forum theatre is in audience participation, and it was enlightening to hear some highly-spirited debate amongst the audience members – comprising both “new” and “old” Indians – during the interactive segment at the end of the show.

We had a thorough discussion on the distinctively Indian concept of “jugaad” (meaning innovative problem solving), the prickly issue of immigrant children having to serve NS, as well as a frank examination on whether purely economic contribution by immigrants is deemed adequate consideration for assimilation.

HuM Theatre does not purport to provide easy answers to any these issues, but if anything, it has certainly spelt these questions out clearly and placed them starkly in front of us, forcing us to take a long hard look at them.

And what better time to do so, for we know that the way things are going, these provocative questions will not only not go away any time soon, but will only grow larger and larger as time goes by.

Because it’s like this only.