MONKEY GOES WEST by W!ld Rice

“A Night of Revelry”

Reviewer: Gan Soon Rui
Performance: 21 November 2014, 7.30pm

It’s that time of the year again…

Christmas worries and procrastinated resolutions aside, it is also time for another of W!LD RICE’s pantomime production to draw the year to a close. As a self-professed musical/comedy junkie, I must confess that I had leapt at the opportunity to review Monkey Goes West.

But please, trust me when I say that it is indeed worth a watch.

Making his directorial debut is Singapore’s beloved Broadway Beng, Sebastian Tan. Tan has decided to direct a pantomime based on one of the four great classical novels from the Chinese literature, Journey to the West. It is unconventional, considering that previous W!ld Rice pantomimes were adaptations of European fairy tales; but therein lies its charm.

For the uninitiated, Monkey Goes West brings to the table an entirely brand new and refreshing tale set to amaze and entertain. For the rest who knows the story (including myself), Monkey Goes West promises to evoke fond memories of the lovable band of master-disciples misfits (culled from comic books and/or drama serials) and the tribulations they face while traveling to the West to obtain the Holy Scriptures.

Naturally in a panto, the number of obstacles they faced were greatly reduced (as compared to the 81 trials in the epic), but the story was succinctly abridged while foregrounding the W!LD RICE charm that makes it so “Singaporean”.

This panto’s success must be credited in part to W!LD RICE’s resident Playwright Alfian Sa’at who managed to capture the individual personalities of each characters that engages an audience of all ages. Easy to follow storyline, preferably with an adorable animal sidekick that talks? Checked! Seemingly innocuous jokes layered with double entendre and sexual innuendos? Checked! A good and strong moral of the story iterated during the cliché moment of reflection? Checked! The list goes on…

Much credit should also be given to set designer Wong Chee Wai, and music composer Elaine Chan, both of whom created a dynamic and fantastical world that enchants the audience: Wong through his astute use of vibrant colours and larger-than-life sets, and Chan through her composition of the memorable and hummable musical numbers.

All that been said though, I was slightly disappointed with the segments requiring audience participation, as some of the performers seems to falter while interacting with the audience. Simply put, the actors appear to be a little overwhelmed by overly enthusiastic responses, which made the scenes feel somewhat, for lack of a better word, forced. However, I did enjoyed Princess Iron Fan’s (Chua Enlai) mouthy and sassy exchange with the audience, as he seems at ease and made the interaction feel much more genuine and natural as compared to his other colleagues.

Pantomime prides itself as a theatrical genre with no age restrictions. Since its very first pantomime , Cinderel-LAH!, first staged in 2003, W!LD RICE has blazed a trail in providing year-end accessible and fun theatre to the masses in Singapore. Perhaps, this serves as a reminder that you are never too young or old to enjoy a panto.