ROMANCE OF MISTAKES by Paper Monkey Theatre

“No Mistakes in the Union of Traditional and Contemporary”

Reviewer: Yong Yoke Kay
Performance: 8 March 2019

Upon entering the theatre, one is immediately drawn to the puppets lined up neatly on both sides of the stage. This closely mimics the format of the traditional puppet stage, where the puppets and puppeteers on standby are visible to the audience. It is the first glimpse of how Paper Monkey Theatre mindfully retains elements of the traditional art form for the proscenium stage.

Marketed as a pantomime, Romance of Mistakes is indeed entertaining. Ninety minutes fly by in this comedy of errors, as villain is mistaken for lover, bride for groom, and victim for assailant. Much of the humour comes from the flustered servants, Chun Lan (puppeteer Shirley Sim), and Servant Cai (puppeteer Xavier Kang), who jump to conclusions in their haste to solve problems.

Despite the absurd plot, the play manages to subtly raise some big questions about love: What is love? How much does it take to fall in and out of love? Can love transcend external appearance and gender?

As the series of unfortunate mix-ups unfolds, the Taiwanese handcrafted puppets come to life, and the ingenuity of director-scriptwriter Benjamin Ho and music composer Liong Kit Yeng become apparent. It is not easy to balance a traditional art form with the contemporary stage and audience, but Romance of Mistakes nailed this tricky unification. The elements of traditional Chinese percussion work well with western instruments, while the script incorporates both Chinese language variations from different eras and Singlish, which makes it more accessible to everyone.

The only gripe is the sometimes muffled voices of the actors during transitions from lines to song. The playback overpowers the actors’ voices, resulting in some lines being inaudible. A better balance of sound would have made the whole show more enjoyable.

It is also a pity the performance was not too well attended, which did not do justice to the heart work put into the production. One hopes that Romance of Mistakes will be restaged some time, as Paper Monkey Theatre has once again proved the company’s ability to keep the traditional art form of Chinese puppetry relevant and accessible to a contemporary audience.