Centre 42 » Whale Fall https://centre42.sg Thu, 16 Dec 2021 10:08:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.30 THE ORANGE PRODUCTION by The Necessary Stage https://centre42.sg/the-orange-production-by-the-necessary-stage-2/ https://centre42.sg/the-orange-production-by-the-necessary-stage-2/#comments Thu, 31 Aug 2017 09:04:37 +0000 http://centre42.sg/?p=7525

《多重复杂的角色扮演》

Reviewer: Neo Hai Bin | 梁海彬
Performance: 10 August 2017

Drip

什么是“种族”？

“Drip”里头的华人媳妇嫁入了马来家庭。因为怀孕的关系，她突然燃起了吃猪肉的强烈欲望。她为了自己丈夫的信仰，努力压抑自己的欲望，只能独自吃素食肉骨茶过干瘾。她也只能够对自己丈夫的妹妹倾诉自己的欲望，是否因为丈夫的妹妹在严格意义上不算是个“模范回教徒”，所以刻意坦言自己“犯罪”的倾向？

华人媳妇说：“我发现要成为穆斯林并不难，难的是成为一个好的穆斯林。”她放弃自己的文化身份，努力成为马来婆婆眼中的好媳妇；而马来女儿则不愿面对自己的身份—— 她搬出去和男朋友住，也不愿见母亲。马来母亲是一个“典型”的穆斯林妇女，听见子女爆粗口会感到晕眩，也努力要求自己的子女成为好的穆斯林。有趣的是，马来母亲在情感上反而与华人媳妇更亲近，因为在各种意义上，华人媳妇更愿意学习／扮演好一个“穆斯林”的角色。如果“种族”是一种需要被扮演好的角色，那么剧中人物其实都在为角色扮演而痛苦挣扎。

很喜欢剧中显示的肢体语言，例如当儿子经过母亲面前时五指朝地的手势；儿子向母亲祈求原谅时在长辈面前下跪，额头靠在长辈手背上…… 种族不仅仅只是肤色与语言的区别，里头蕴含的是文化与身份认同。Nabilah Said的“Drip”通过荒诞的剧情，在嬉笑怒骂之间，向我们揭示：“种族”是个复杂的概念，超越了血缘与生理特征，是语言、历史、文化之下的产物。我们注定不断地建构、加强、巩固、推翻“种族”建构之下所产生的自我认同。戏末一家人终于坐下来吃饭，却不安地交谈—— 华人媳妇始终吃着自己不习惯的食物，马来母亲吃着媳妇买回来，自己不习惯吃的食物。

Whalefall

演员们试着排练一篇还未写完的剧本，试图揣摩自己剧中的角色动机、背景。她们进行即兴创作，谁做主角，谁就能够主导剧情。她们潜入了想像中的大海深处，也沉进了记忆里头。舞台上一轮大大的月亮温柔地发亮，两个演员在海底深处互诉心事—— 月亮的阴晴圆缺，控制着大海的潮汐…… 在那轮明月之下，那两个女生也才有了让记忆与故事浮现出脑海来的可能性。

她们是讲故事的人—— 她们为剧中角色编故事；把自己的故事融入角色的背景故事；最后，剧本已经被两人丢得不知所终，观众也已经分不清她们与剧中人的区别。有趣的是，开场时女生A扮演的角色躺在床上，无论女生B如何拉扯呼唤，始终不愿起来；而到了剧末，女生B躺在床上安详地睡着了，女生A则为她关灯。角色身份的相互调换，暗喻了她们彼此身份的流动性。

演员，或戏子，是创造角色的能手。有所闻，演员会迷失在自己的角色里，分不清自我和角色。实际上，演员在创造角色时，正是把自己的一部份作为素材，从而创造角色。于是十个人演哈姆雷特，便会有十个不同的哈姆雷特。Faith Ng的“Whalefall”是一曲诗篇，通过剧中两个女生的角色的转换、跳跃、甚至混淆，让人性面貌浮现出来。

Do you have an opinion or comment about this post? Email us at info@centre42.sg.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

THE ORANGE PRODUCTION by The Necessary Stage 
10 – 13 August 2017
The Necessary Stage Black Box

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

梁海彬目前是「九年剧场演员组合计划」的创建及核心组员。他写的文字亦收入在：thethoughtspavilion.wordpress.com。

]]> https://centre42.sg/the-orange-production-by-the-necessary-stage-2/feed/ 0 THE ORANGE PRODUCTION by The Necessary Stage https://centre42.sg/the-orange-production-by-the-necessary-stage/ https://centre42.sg/the-orange-production-by-the-necessary-stage/#comments Tue, 15 Aug 2017 08:49:17 +0000 http://centre42.sg/?p=7467

“The Orange Production”

Reviewer: Jocelyn Chng
Performance: 11 August 2017

In conjunction with its 30th anniversary this year, The Necessary Stage created The Orange Production to showcase new, smaller works. Drip and Whale Fall are the first two plays to be presented under this platform.

Drip, written by Nabilah Said, discusses the relationship between a Malay Muslim man, Azam, and a Chinese woman, Xiaoyan, who has converted to Islam. This appears to be a hot topic, what with Channel NewsAsia broadcasting interviews with interracial couples in the past year or two; and Without Reason, staged at this year’s M1 Peer Pleasure Youth Theatre Festival, which deals with the same issue.

What sets Drip apart is that it does not harp solely on the particularities or difficulties of being an interracial couple. It engages with wider issues to do with religion, such as beliefs that lead to disagreements between a conservative mother and her two children, a son who drinks and a daughter who smokes and cohabits with her boyfriend.

However, Drip is undermined by the tenuous use of water as a device. References to Newater and holy water are introduced near the beginning, letting us in on the idea of water perhaps being used as a metaphorical thread.  It makes sense in so far as it relates to the play’s title. Towards the end, however, at the height of the family’s most heated dinnertime argument, all four characters hold dishes filled with water, deliberately spilling it as the argument unfolds. As one of the few non-realistic elements in a play that is otherwise staged very naturalistically; the effect causes confusion rather than coherence.

The script also attempts to use melodrama to comic effect, but unfortunately the impeccable comic timing required for this to work is not quite achieved by the cast.

If I were to leave with one thought, though, it is sparked by Xiaoyan’s gripe about the unfairness that her husband’s drinking is seen as less of a transgression than if she were to eat pork. This is a reminder that some issues in life are indeed very complicated; a call for less judgement and more understanding.

In quite stark contrast is Whale Fall, a Pirandello-esque play in which the characters, who are actors acting in an as-yet-unfinished play, are dissatisfied with the first act and decide to change it. We are taken into the imaginations of each of them in turn, in the process becoming privy to some of their secrets and fantastical thoughts.

This play by Faith Ng explores friendship amongst other things – the characters are written as best friends, and I note from the performers’ biographies that the actors are indeed childhood pals in real life; knowing this little detail somehow makes this performance that much more special.

This is a bold exploration, and I do look forward to further development of this (and other) non-linear/non-narrative works in the local theatrical repertoire in future.

Do you have an opinion or comment about this post? Email us at info@centre42.sg.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

THE ORANGE PRODUCTION by The Necessary Stage 
10 – 13 August 2017
The Necessary Stage Black Box

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Jocelyn holds a double Masters in Theatre Studies/Research. She is a founding member of the Song and Dance (SoDa) Players – a registered musical theatre society in Singapore. She is currently building her portfolio career as an educator and practitioner in dance and theatre, while pursuing an MA in Education (Dance Teaching).

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