“Heart Matter”

Reviewer: Gloria Ho
Performance: 13 September 2015, 3pm

Love is nothing more than a series of chemical reactions. We have all heard this proposition before. Cleverly using this as a premise, The Effect delves deep into the heart of matter – both literally and metaphorically.

The Effect is centered on a clinical trial where participants Tristan (Johnson Chong) and Connie (Krissy Jesudason) are guinea pigs for a new drug. Coincidentally or otherwise, as the prescribed dosage increases, they gradually fall for each other. Together with them, we are forced to question whether the feelings are genuine or just a side-effect of the drug (also coined as “Viagra of the heart”). Unavoidably, the long-standing mind-body argument and dualism enter the fray. Additionally, another heavy discussion parallels: is depression a mere chemical imbalance of the brain that can be alleviated by medication or is it a complex condition caused by external factors?

Couch Theatre makes an applaudable choice for their annual production, recognizing that the stigma of mental illness still permeates through our society today. The intended purpose of this choice, however, loses clarity with seemingly half-hearted efforts in presenting this dense play written by British playwright Lucy Prebble.

Take for example the character of Dr James (Chio Su Ping), researcher of the experiment trial. Dr James is able to go about her daily work and life normally, despite her diagnosis of depression. She reveals her inner insecurities through a notable, well-delivered monologue towards the end. Instead of capitalizing on this notion of normalcy by appearance, the production perpetuates the very stereotypical perceptions of people labelled with mental illness that Dr. James finds ludicrous.

In all, a little more careful consideration and bold choices could have, in effect, made this a much more intriguing, engaging and impactful piece.

“Lucy Prebble’s The Effect”

Reviewer: Jemima Yong
Performance: 8 September 2015

Here, in The Effect, we focus on Tristan (Johnson Chong) and Connie (Krissy Jesudason), two young subjects on a clinical trial for new anti-depressants that increase dopamine levels in the brain. But who is the control in this experiment? Who is on the placebo? As dosages increase, a parallel relationship between administering psychiatrist Lorna (Chio Su Ping) and her employer Toby (Prem John) reveals fundamentally opposing views on how and when to medicate mental illness.

Couch Theatre has made a stunning choice of script to present. Lucy Prebble’s skilful four-hander serves up a compelling human narrative on a plate of fundamental questions about neuroscience, medicine, illness and life. What do we consider ‘real’ love and depression to be? Is the love experienced by the medicated mind, less legitimate? With more questions than answers, The Effect opens up discussions around mental health that is sorely lacking. We leave this performance thinking, reflecting and talking to each other. At what point does sadness become clinical depression? How useful is it to analyse our human experiences through chemical levels in the brain?

In this iteration, there tends to be more of a focus on the general picture rather than its finer details – the semi naturalistic set of white blocks coupled with largely conventional sound and lighting serves the physical rather than metaphorical aspects that the text affords. I feel that more ambition needs to be pursued here. The ensemble holds the text together with tactile chemistry and ease; this gives the entire performance a lovely charm. Ziyad Bin Ahmad Bagharib’s direction appears slightly insecure; the taut pacing needs to allow for more breathing space for the audience. It felt like I was being held on to tightly even though they were far from ever losing me. I want to place my hands on everyone’s shoulders and say, “relax, trust yourselves.”

There is no doubt that Couch Theatre is an intelligent company, working towards a practice more refined, innovative and confident. They’ve already made the excellent decision to tell great stories whilst cutting their teeth, all they need to do now is to throw themselves into the deep end and they may find something extra-ordinary. There is a lot of potential here… I’ll be watching this space with anticipation.

“The Pillowman“

Reviewer: Andre Joseph Theng
Performance: 19 July 2014

It can hardly be considered a pleasant evening when the 3-hour play is a story about stories of gruesome and revolting (razor blade in throat, toes chopped of; you get the idea) child murders. It is even less pleasant when these stories don’t just exist on the page, but actually happened in “real life”.

Described as a dark comedy, Couch Theatre’s production of The Pillowman at the Drama Centre Black Box certainly is very dark, and a little less so a comedy. Katurian (Lim Shien Hian), a writer who has been arrested for committing a series of murders which parallel short stories he had previously written. However, some of the murders were actually carried out by his autistic brother Michel (Shrey Bhargava), who “acts out” the murders Katurian had written.

They are arrested and interrogated by policeman Ariel (Ziyad Bagharib) and detective Tupolski (Uday Duggal). It can be described as “story-ception” where the play alternates between the present, where Katurian is being interrogated, and re-enactments of his stories. As the play progresses, one realises that it is not just about the stories of Katurian, but also those of Ariel and Tupolski as well.

The script by Irish playwright Matthew McDonagh is very clever, if not bizarre. It has won many awards, including the 2005 Olivier prize for best new play and due credit must indeed be given to a monumental piece of drama which effortlessly combined the gruesome themes with some humour. My only criticism is that the script is a tad too long, and the dialogue is sometimes repetitive.

My favourite actor of the night would be Bhargava’s portrayal of Michel. It is obviously not easy to portray an autistic adult but his characterisation was both multi-dimensional and convincing. Less impressive was Bagharib’s Ariel, who spoke with a rather strange accent and whose portrayal of Ariel was confusing and unclear.

Given the youth of Couch Theatre (both in the sense that Couch is a new theatre company, and also that it has been set up by young people), it was expected that all the actors, even those playing older characters, were a little too young for their roles and the production unfortunately does suffer a little as a result, despite attempts to transcend the production values of a school play.

In recent years, there has been an explosion of new theatre companies in Singapore, many of which have been set up by young enthusiasts. This is definitely a promising trend and has added much colour to the local theatre scene. Many of these groups, however, struggle to make it past their first production, and Couch’s multiple productions already sets it apart from these new companies.

If anything, this group of young people so passionate about theatre should be commended for their ambition – no less than six shows and a two-week run of an ambitious script. Despite some rough edges, this production has certainly made Couch Theatre a company to watch out for in the near future.