ISLAND SONG by SoDA Players

“Not this island’s song”

Reviewer: Myle Yan Tay
Performance: 9 December 2018

The SoDA Players (Song & DAnce Players) is a group of young professionals who practice theatre outside of their day jobs. In this production of Island Song, written by Sam Carner, Derek Gregor and Marlo Hunter, the Players do an admirable job as performers and designers. This reviewer only wishes that the material they were working with was of a higher standard.

The musical, first produced in New York City, follows five 20-somethings as they navigate adulthood in the Big Apple. The characters are pulled from a bag of clichés. There is a go-getter lawyer, a hopeless romantic, a spurned lover, an aspiring actor and a girl whose only trait is that she is quirky. Island Song would probably unironically declare New York City the sixth character of the musical. Perhaps this reviewer has seen too many parodies about the magic of New York City, that it is difficult to be anything but cynical about Island Song’s content.

Additionally, hearing the presumably Singaporean cast members with varying degrees of American accents sing about dirty subways, smelly pigeons, and Broadway ring false. The production’s depiction of New York City is as simplistic as its characters.

All three female characters are defined by their relationship with men. Though by the musical’s end, their journeys lead to independence, one character spends the whole musical pining, undercutting the emotional potential of some of the musical’s strongest numbers.

This is Island Song’s major problem. Each character can be described almost entirely with one or two words, and their journeys move linearly in a predictable fashion from there.

That said, the production team puts in a commendable effort to breathe life into the production. The audience sit almost within the stage, with actors walking on runways between seats. They are consistently moving from setting to setting, suggesting lives outside of their songs. This could easily be distracting, but a sharp lighting design and disciplined cast create the illusion of hustle-and-bustle. Sarah Koh, playing Jordan the lawyer, is exciting to watch throughout. The live band appear occasionally as non-speaking characters, making the production feel cohesive and integrated. The cast sing well, though certain harmonies are off, perhaps because of the acoustics of the space.  On this note, unfortunately, many of the lyrics are undecipherable, due to the band’s volume or the actors’ diction. Nonetheless, the songs still hold weight thanks to the actors’ committed performances.

During the musical, three hipsters intermittently interrupt with songs about their “doneness” with all aspects of life. The actors and lyrics are amusing. But in a musical with so many tropes and clichés, it is hypocritical to point out the hipsters’ shallowness when they are as fleshed-out as the five main characters.

Though not a perfect production, the team’s efforts bode well for the SoDA Players. This reviewer just hopes their next production is unhampered by a weak script.