NO MAN’S LAND by Oh! Open House

“Secret struggles and a lost sea”

Reviewer: Teo Dawn
Performance: 24 January 2016

Priding themselves in giving the immersive theatre experience and inspired by last year’s art walk, Oh! Open House presents a show in Joo Chiat as part of the Singapore Art Week.

No Man’s Land is a site-specific performance directed by Alan Oei. This happening brings people into private and personal spaces to uncover the history of the land one stands on.

Crossing time and space, geographical and historical boundaries, the hour and 45 minutes long performance is engaging and a treat to the senses. It is a narrative trail made up of a mix of both fact and fiction – constructing and reconstructing the then and now.

There is a sense of exclusivity and intimacy with the audience from the beginning to the end.

The show begins right from the revealing of the location, which has been completed only a week before the actual date. From then, it establishes a connection between the audience and the performance itself, as well as suspense. The establishment of this relationship fashions the elusive nature of the atmosphere, and makes the audience want to know more.

The start and end points are different as well – expanding the theatre beyond the three confined spaces audiences are expected to travail. From sterile homes to travelling in the back of a truck, the atmospheres of each have subtle differences and characteristics.

All this spark an interest in discovery, and it does not disappoint.

With four characters – real or not, appearing one after another in different rooms, stories are exchanged and questions are asked. The most interesting is the migrant worker. Revealing shocking statistics about a plight that not many Singaporeans may know about, he also poses questions to the audience members – engaging them and essentially, making them part of the on-going conversation.

There are instances where questions provoke uneasiness and awkwardness but I feel it is interesting to listen to how politically correct we are and that we can be as ugly as what the script suggests. The discomfort is astonishing, and the honesty in the air is liberating.

Even though one may leave the show right at the end with no concrete answer, it is an experience that challenges and shows the beauty of the Joo Chiat spirit – in the forms of people, architecture and even desire.