THE LITTLE PRINCE by Arts Theatre of Singapore

“The Little Prince”

Reviewer: Yong Yoke Kay
Performance: 14 April 2019

The Little Prince gets off to a rocky start, with a lacklustre opening number that attempts to hype the audience with upbeat tunes and cheery movements. However, it only manages to radiate awkwardness. The choreography feels too simplistic and childish on the grown dancers’ bodies, and they are unable to fully commit to and enjoy the movements.

Luckily, the show picks up as soon as the Little Prince (played by Yang Yi Bei, who is also the music producer) appears. Yang embodies her character perfectly, delivering a nuanced performance that balances childlike innocence and worldly wisdom. She deftly captures the earnestness of the Little Prince, bringing to life his interactions with the other characters.

Ai Jia Qi’s direction and work on the script also deserve special mention. Character development has been placed at the forefront, and some of the less central characters from the book (such as the Railway Switchman and Turkish Astronomer) have been omitted for the sake of simplicity. Necessary exaggeration of the caricatures, together with well-developed dialogues, result in a show that retains the spirit of the original plot, but makes for an easily understandable storyline that communicates the essential morals to its young target audience.

It is a pity, however, that the compelling performance is marred by the play’s production values. Details such as glue marks on the set’s finishing being clearly visible under the lights, and untucked shoelaces of the performers’ dance slippers, make the performance a little rough around the edges. What is most distracting and unfortunate, though, are the microphones used – they pick up every breath, and backstage chatter on the occasions that they are not muted.

That said, the children seem to have no qualms with imperfect aesthetics. On the way out of the theatre, a little girl beside me proclaimed, “I loved the Flower! She was so pretty!” Immediately, I feel guilty for thinking that the Flower’s costume is gaudy and that her shoes are jarring.

Perhaps I, too, have some lessons to learn from the story: true beauty transcends the superficial, and the emotional effectiveness of a performance should not be judged solely on preconceived notions of what theatre should be, or what makes for a good or bad performance.