“孤岛没有边缘，死亡没有空间”

Reviewer: Neo Hai Bin | 梁海彬
Performance: 26 March 2016

一进场，就看见四个角色站在形似孤岛的高台上说故事。当一个角色说话时，其他角色在剧场内游走，穿梭观众群。四个同性恋者在同样的空间里永远没有交流、只有频频地交错。只有当他们站在平台上面，他们才有话语权，才能够说话。被社会压迫的同性恋者，需要可以说话的空间。

在平台下的我们，虽然和他们共享空间，却也永远只是在“观”他们，观众的参与只能以“看”的方式进行。导演想说什么？是不是想说人与人之间最无可奈何的事：我们可以尝试理解被压迫者的问题，但是永远无法真正了解他们？

四个角色都被社会里不同的力量压迫。其中有个角色，属于边缘中的边缘—— 虽然是同性恋者，但却被其他“完美的同性恋者”压迫排斥。剧中有两个女性角色，对于情节的推动是至关重要的：一个是姐姐，她不接受自己的同性恋弟弟。一个是马来妇女—— 马来妇女角色的安排值得深思：身为双重边缘人（马来族、女性），她也面对主流社会的某种压迫，但是她竟然可以不停打断另一个同性恋者的话语权，不断地插嘴，近乎粗暴地去压迫他。她不是我们想象中的powerless。原来这个社会不是“压迫者”和“被压迫者”如此的黑白分明。在一种情形下，你也许是受压迫者，但在另一种情形下，你也可以是一个压迫者。2016年，我们有着模糊且多重的身份。

“GRIND”最后安排了一个角色的死亡，但我却看不到死亡对其他四个角色、乃至同性恋社群、以及剧中整个社会，究竟有什么影响。剧中自杀的角色，对其他四个人物根本没有任何的影响或启发。于是，我们看到了最终极的压迫形式—— 一个被压迫者以死亡做出了最大的控诉，但是他的控诉却是最无声的，在社群里和社会里激不起丝毫的涟漪。

这个社会仍有许多被主流群体忽略的弱势群体，有的根本没有发声的媒介，他们面对的压迫是主流社会无法想象的。“GRIND”给予同性恋者话语权，直接明了地说出了同性恋者的处境。通过被压迫者的四个故事，“Grind”问我们：如何打破“压迫／被压迫”的恶性循环呢？“GRIND”没有给我们解答。但是，它也没有义务给我们解答。

“Walking into the forbidden world”

Reviewer: Beverly Yuen
Performance: 26 March 2016

Entering the theatre space, one draws associations of testicles, condoms, and sex. The space is filled with installations of globs hanging from ceilings and irregular platforms with four men standing on them. The shadows cast on the faces reveal intense emotions as they confess their secrets. This causes a vehement sense of uneasiness as one walks into the forbidden world of the characters.

Production designer Chris Chua, lighting designer Tai Zi Feng and sound designer Jing Ng adeptly integrate various stage elements to create the intimate world of the four gay men in Grind, which is directed by Goh Boon Teck.

Audience members are free to move around the room to listen, watch and react to the private lives of the four characters. At times, you may be detached from the characters. At others, they are up-close and personal as they could be speaking to your face or stripping right in front of you. This pulls me into the inner psyche of the characters as I experience what seems to be prohibited and yet real, sincere and powerful.

Pang (Chong Woon Yong) has found his life partner and has planned for a wedding, but the only thing which is incomplete is the lack of acceptance by his sister, his only family member. Tian (Juni Goh) is insecure about who he is in real life, and obsessively turns to social media to seek attention by hitting the gym compulsively and posting photos of his body online. Long (Mitchell Fang) actively strives for his rights as a gay man in a society where homosexuals are deprived of benefits meant only for the straight world. Gan (Stanley Seah) is a devoted Christian trapped between the condemnation of sin and embracing his sexuality. The actors sustain the piece with immense conviction, which is enhanced by a keen sense of rhythm and well-coordinated voice work. The actors also play different characters in the monologues of each lead character.

Written by Goh Boon Teck and Shar Pi’ee, the script is a commendable mix of humour, raw emotions, intelligent discourse, poetic revelation and analogies.  Biblical references highlight the agony and struggle that Gan has to go through. The cities of Gomorrah and Sodom (which gives rise to the word Sodomy) are cited as cities of sin as people indulged in sexual acts, especially the “unnatural acts” consisting of anal or oral sex. Such a reference compels one to ponder about the issue of homosexuality in today’s society. Have things changed? Perhaps things have changed. Rather than being punished, the cities of sin—from a Christian perspective—are flourishing and filled with tourists, as put forth by the playwrights in the play.

The shame of being gay eventually leads Gan to commit suicide, which can also be read as a sacrifice for the sake of those around him. While his life winds up tragically, Tian, Pang and Long seem to find liberation and hope through the symbolism of the Pink Dot celebration at Hong Lim Park, which brings the piece to its finale.