DEAR JAY by Blue Bean Productions

“Gesturing Grief“

Reviewer: Jeremiah Choy
Performance: 15 December 2016

Dear Jay is touted as “a brand new play that talks about mental illness among youths”. But not much other information about the play, its issues, or its process can be found in its website or its playbill.

The premise of the plot is simple enough: Leonard (played by Benedict Leong) is struggling with grief and mental issues after the suicide of his ward-mate Jay (played by Zenda Tan).

But the simple plot is made convoluted by playwright Eugenia Tan coupled with Hazel Ho’s complicated direction.

Without much access to the process (or more information), the production comes across a schizophrenic hybrid of several monologues masking as physical theatre, interjected with didactic dialogues. The audience is treated to several long monotonous monologues delivered by a grieving Leonard, interspersed with a supporting ensemble gesticulating non-contextual movements around him.

But the audience feels neither grief nor empathy towards either characters or the issues. There is too much self-involved, self-absorbed, “I am grieving, I am dealing with mental issues, so I am telling you as it is” kind of acting going on centre stage.

And this goes on scene after scene after scene.

It drones on.

At one point, it feels like a glorified SYF production with the ensemble executing gestures accompanying the main character/s when they speak or when the ensemble speaks, or speaking when they are carrying props. The static set, messy staging (too much carrying and adjusting square boxes on and off stage) and clumsy change of costumes serve does nothing to alleviate the situation.

Gestures can help the audience understand what is happening, but if wrongly used, or over-used, gestures become a distraction. And in this case, one should not equate moving props around, forming tableau and gesticulating whilst delivering text as physical theatre. There is a lot of misunderstanding and misappropriating of “physical theatre” here.

The inconsistent directing has some scenes with real props and some scenes mimed and with real props. Case in point: there is a scene where Mom comes in with a tray of stacked up plates that become plates with food and the actors miming eating non-existent food from the empty plates.

The precious little scenes of dialogue between the main characters and the ensemble as characters are a relief. It is a pity that the very able and capable supporting cast especially Vivienne Wong (as Viviana) and Nicholas Bloodworth (as Dad) are not given more opportunities to perform optimally. They have great presence on stage and would have definitely moved the stodgy storyline along.

But despite the failings of a good production, Blue Jay is a brave production. “It is effortless to be ambivalent,” exclaims Leonard.

And ambivalent they are not.