PETER AND THE STARCATCHER by Pangdemonium

“Peter is a Head-Scratcher”

Reviewer: Lee Shu Yu
Performance: 4 October 2018

In Pangdemonium’s Peter and the Starcatcher, Lord Leonard Aster (Daniel Jenkins) is tasked to destroy the magical and dangerous “starstuff”, but his plan is thwarted by pirates. His daughter, Molly Aster (Carina McWhinnie), befriends three orphans (Thomas Pang, Andrew Marko and Salif Hardie) and they go on a secret mission to save the day.

There is nothing quite like a Pangdemonium theatre production: magnificent stage design, a well-intentioned tale and a dynamic cast. Director Tracie Pang and lighting designer James Tan create the most delightful stage pictures. Illusions of winding tunnels, a monster ship and crushing waves are created with nothing more than bodies and simple props. The audience’s active imagination is crucial in completing the staging. This sort of theatrical magic is something this reviewer wishes she sees more of (especially from the more established companies).

Although the play explores Peter’s origin story, it is really the courage and growth of Molly that forms the backbone of the tale. It is annoying then, to see Adrian Pang outstay his welcome in the limelight as Pirate Chief Black ’Stache. Pang is a fantastic performer, but too much of a good thing can be an absolute drag. Long comedic sequences by Pang run on with no end in sight. Black ’Stache’s vanity seems to blend with Pang’s own, making it incredibly disruptive to the narrative and frustrating to watch. By the time Black ’Stache gets his hand sliced off, I know to expect an exhausting and excessive string of jokes about his lost, right extremity. It is like they never once stopped to consider the puns too heavy-handed.

Pangdemonium has set this version in 1885 Colonial Singapore. An odd choice, given that the local references are merely shoehorned into the tale. Every time Peter/Boy (Thomas Pang) reflects on his lost childhood, the melody of the lullaby, “世上只有妈妈好” (“Mother is the Best in the World”) is heard, even though there is no convincing reason for the association other than as a tacky emotional cue. Shafik, a member of the ship’s crew played by Juwanda Hassim, is always addressed by the wrong name and portrayed as the stereotypical lazy Malay. Later, the crew encounter “Savages”, portrayed here by Erwin Shah Ismail and Juwanda again. They wear swirly body markings, have indigenous American tribal names, but speak with a Malay-accented vernacular consisting of English, gibberish, and Italian food names. There is even a butchered dikir barat sequence, for good measure.

I find myself grimacing in confusion at this monstrous amalgamation of minority stereotypes. Maybe the supposed insensitivity is an intended shocking commentary about colonial rule, but more biting satire is needed to cut through this hot mess of representation. Otherwise, finger-pointing, and dismissive exclamations that, “you foreigners always mess things up!” only feel like lip-service.

This reviewer wishes that more care can be taken to re-present or re-evaluate history, especially to educate Peter’s younger audiences. For Pangdemonium to be a self-professed beacon of hope and social awareness, this tactless attempt is truly puzzling.

But maybe the true question is how artists should grapple with increasingly complex but polarising views of representation and social responsibility.

Now perhaps that is the real head-scratcher.