The monologue by Kuo Pao Kun is centred on a man who has been tasked to oversee the funeral of his grandfather. It emerges that the grand coffin is too large to fit into the standard-sized grave that has been dug at the cemetery, so the man ends up fighting an uphill battle against government bureaucracy.

First Stagings

The Coffin Is Too Big For The Hole is Kuo Pao Kun’s first English play, as he had been writing his scripts entirely in Chinese before this. He came up with the idea for the play when director Tzi Ma invited him to create a piece for Bumboat – a collection of new homegrown plays – that would be staged at the 1984 Singapore Arts Festival. According to former Straits Times arts correspondent Corrie Tan, Kuo said in a 2000 interview with the paper that:

“It was written in about four or five hours. It just flowed out. I still remember that experience – it was wonderful.”

Source: Classic Singapore plays #4 - The Coffin Is Too Big For The Hole by Corrie Tan. In The Straits Times (1 Oct 2014), http://bit.ly/2pqfHVh

In the end, the monologue didn’t make it into Bumboat, but this gave Kuo the chance to write a Chinese version for it as well. In the words of the playwright:

All the images are there in the same head. It is the same person writing it. I referred to the original text in English and then re-wrote it. It’s a translation and yet not a translation.

Source: Coffin comes to life by Caroline Ngui. In The Straits Times (19 July 1985), http://tinyurl.com/lh2cush

The Chinese version made its debut on 23 July 1985 at the Victoria Theatre, staged by the Practice Performing Arts School and starring Choo Woon Hock.

The English version, starring Lim Kay Tong, was staged on 11 November 1985 at Marine Parade Library. Lim recalls panicking when Kuo first asked him to take on the lead role, as he had never done a full-length monologue before, and Kuo seemed to be in no hurry to get started on rehearsals:

“Among other things, they visited a coffin-maker and discussed the nature of funerals. Concerned, Lim secretly started memorising the script on his own.

“In retrospect, he believes Kuo had a very clear vision of how the work would take shape. He says: ‘I think it was probably the correct approach, because it somehow got under your skin – all the talking, the background.'”

Source: Classic Singapore plays #4 - The Coffin Is Too Big For The Hole by Corrie Tan. In The Straits Times (1 Oct 2014), http://bit.ly/2pqfHVh

Under Kuo’s direction, Lim and Choo also exchanged notes about each other’s portrayal of a man with an over-sized coffin.

[Kuo Pao Kun and Lim Kay Tong] experimented, tried new things, worked on the technical nitty-gritty such as body and voice.

Wenxue was brought in, and both actors watched and learned from each other. All found the two interpretations different but equally valid.

Source: Coffin’s English debut by John de Souza. In The Straits Times (15 November 1985), http://tinyurl.com/kwgpvle

Responses

With Mandarin and English debuts of The Coffin within months of each other, naturally there were comparisons between the two actors and their renditions.

Says Pao Kun: “Wenxue plays his role with bigger dimensions, which comes from his Chinese theatre experience. Kay Tong is not so exaggerated and, in a way, draws you into the piece.

Source: Coffin’s English debut by John de Souza. In The Straits Times (15 November 1985), http://tinyurl.com/kwgpvle

Someone noted that there was more laughter in the lighter, more enjoyable Mandarin version, that this English one was “serious”.

Source: Coffin is what you make of it by John de Souza. In The Straits Times (20 November 1985), http://tinyurl.com/n484wea

The play, in both languages, was universally acclaimed. Many identified with the humour-laden story of man-versus-establishment.

It’s only about 35 minutes long, is full of apparent lightness and innate humour, and takes veiled digs at society and establishment alike… It’s power lies in the simple, unpretentious form given by its creator and director, Kuo Pao Kun, of the Practice Performing Arts School.

[…]

Very few pieces of local writing I know have that potential. Or that power.

Source: Coffin is what you make of it by John de Souza. In The Straits Times (20 November 1985), http://tinyurl.com/n484wea

In the decades following the premiere(s) of The Coffin, many marvelled at how the seemingly simple narrative was laden with multiple themes, rich meanings, and incisive social commentary, all just waiting to be unpacked. The Coffin also cemented its position in Singapore theatre as one of its defining works for Kuo’s success in portraying everyday Singaporean speech.

Coffin is particularly interesting for its deconstruction of the fabric of social values and bureaucratic system… The apparent triumph of simple humanity and sympathy in the face of overwhelming odds dictated by state policies at the play’s conclusion, is in fact a triumph of social mythology; the narrator’s successful one-man stand against the powers-that-be in sociality has effectively ensured his own re-absorption into the social mythology that he has helped to perpetuate.

Source: Of Coffins and Parking Tickets by Jeanette Ng. In Interlogue (2000, Vol. 3, p.43-44). Published by Ethos Books.

Kuo, by turning such a reality into comedy, achieves artistic distillation but his achievements do not end here. He goes further and exposes the absurdity of that reality. The audience can therefore feel the impact amidst the laughter.

The depth of this play far exceeds the incident depicted. Rich themes abound in this monologue – relationships between the younger and older generation, between the individual and the family, between the dead and those alive as well as between the individual and society.

Source: Dilemma of the modern man by Gao Xingjian. In Images at the Margins (2000, p.72-72). Published by Times Books International.

The journey of the narrator from indifference to respect towards his roots is punctuated with gently satirical humour caused in part by convincing ‘Singlish’ (Singapore English), and with absorbing dramatic tension. Anyone who has confronted the unmovable force of bureaucracy can easily identify with the personal trauma of the narrator. What raises the play from a witty parable to a serious modern drama is the continuous presence of ‘inner feelings’ that imperceptibly insinuate upon the psyche of the narrator and his audience.

Source: Kuo Pao Kun – the Man of the future in Singapore theatre by Krishen Jit. In The Coffin Is Too Big For the Hole and other plays (1990, p.21). Published by Times Books International.

By Gwen Pew
Published on 4 May 2017

The Vault: Dialects and Dialectics revisits two monologues by the late local theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun: No Parking On Odd Days and The Coffin Is Too Big For The Hole. Nine Years Theatre’s artistic director Nelson Chia explores the cultural sentiments and grassroots sensibilities of these plays by staging them in Cantonese and Teochew respectively. Presented on 5 May 2017, 8pm,  and 6 May 2017, 3pm & 8pm, at Centre 42 Black Box. Admission is give-what-you-can. Find out more about the event here.

Kuo Pao Kun’s 1984 monologue examines the rigidity – and sometimes absurdity – of bureaucracy through a series of confrontations that a man has with the authorities over parking tickets.

First Stagings

The English version of No Parking On Odd Days was first staged on 2 June 1986 at the Shell Theatrette in Singapore, starring Lim Kay Tong and directed by Kuo Pao Kun.

On 13 May 1987, the Mandarin version starring Sum Chong Keong was performed at the Victoria Theatre. It was directed by Tay Bin Wee. That same year, the English production also made its debut in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Responses

The play, as well as Lim’s and Sum’s performances of it, was lauded by both audiences and critics, who immediately identified with the struggles of the play’s protagonist.

It was a situation so compellingly presented on stage that one could not help feeling that writer and director Kuo Pao Kun had written it from personal experience. Mr Kuo, however, was not saying.

[…]

Kay Tong worked the audience beautifully, building up a bubble of anticipation which explodes in a hilarious shock of recognition that rocks the theatre.

[…]

“I like the underlying message of the play – that we accept too much,” said a civil servant.

A businesswoman said she was surprised and pleased that the Ministry of Community Development had included this play in the festival’s programme.

A teacher added: “It means we’re maturing…”

And the loud and sustained applause yesterday was as much a bouquet for the ministry’s good judgment as for the efforts of the writer/director and actor.

Source: Fine way to have a dig at bureaucracy by Irene Hoe. In The Straits Times (4 June 1986), http://tinyurl.com/kls2fqf

His father is disappointed that his son, an inquisitive and upright boy, has become servile and seemingly indifferent towards injustice.

This drew laughter from the audience, who even applauded. But how could they? Would they laugh at such as pathetic situation in real life?

The comperes called this comedy of situation ku zhong zuo le (amuse oneself when in distress). People laugh at others in situations that they have been caught in themselves. It amuses them to know that they are not alone in their plight.

The audience was also taken in by the skill with which [Sum Chong Keong] put the message across. His many tongue-in-cheek jokes threw them off.

Amid the laughter, the seriousness of the situation is not lost. Although I laughed then, I also felt lost and depressed.

Source: Laughing at others - and ourselves by Maggie Tan. In The Straits Times (19 May 1987), http://tinyurl.com/ms8m7fp

No Parking quickly became a landmark work in the Singapore dramatic canon. Academics praised Kuo’s skilful presentation of the Singaporean condition.

As a critique of societal power and ideological apparatuses, it mockingly dismantles the apparatus of state and societal power until the idealistic kernel of “Truth with a capital T” (No Parking, 63) is itself symbolically and literally lost behind the gridlock of legalese and bureaucrats. Then the monologue distorts and undercuts its own dubious truth, finally turning onto the narrator’s “Truth” at the same time it destroys the principles of Law.”

Of Coffins and Parking Tickets by Jeanette Ng. In Interlogue (2000, Vol. 3), p.45. Published by Ethos Books.

Another highlight of the play was its veracity in reproducing the speech patterns and vocabulary of the average Singaporean.

In [T. Sasitharan’s] opinion, too, “here, at last, was a Singaporean writer who knew how to use the word, ‘lah’.”

“Before, it was just an appendage. A writer would sprinkle ‘lahs’ all over the place to make his work Singaporean.”

Source: HK to hear about our parking woes by Caroline Ngui. In The Straits Times (8 January 1987), http://tinyurl.com/mp83g6f

But Kuo’s real achievement in the play is his profound entrance into Singapore English. It is not quite Singlish, the local patois that was gaining in currency and in controversy in mid-1980s Singapore’s English theatre. It is also not quite BBC English either. But it is just as grammatical and lucid. What Kuo has done is to create a fictive Singapore English that feels like the local version but he has reconstructed it in such a way that is eminently usable for drama. Remarkably, Kuo, hitherto a playwright in Mandarin, has created one of the most dynamic and useful forms of dramatic English for the English language theatre of Singapore.

No Parking on Odd Days by Krishen Jit. In Images at the Margins (2000, p.96). Published by Times Books International.

No Parking on Odd Days is available in the following published collections:

• The Coffin Is Too Big For the Hole and Other Plays. (1990). Published by Times Books International.
• Images at the Margins. (2000). Published by Times Books International.
• [Chinese version] The Complete Works of Kuo Pao Kun (Volume TWO) – Plays in Chinese (2): The 1980s. (2005). Published by Global Publishing.
• The Complete Works of Kuo Pao Kun (Volume FOUR) – Plays in English. (2012). Published by Global Publishing.

By Gwen Pew
Published on 2 May 2017

The Vault: Dialects and Dialectics revisits two monologues by the late local theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun: No Parking On Odd Days and The Coffin Is Too Big For The Hole. Nine Years Theatre’s artistic director Nelson Chia explores the cultural sentiments and grassroots sensibilities of these plays by staging them in Cantonese and Teochew respectively. Presented on 5 May 2017, 8pm,  and 6 May 2017, 3pm & 8pm, at Centre 42 Black Box. Admission is give-what-you-can. Find out more about the event here.