13.13.13 by TheatreWorks

“Where is the love?”

Reviewer: Christian W. Huber
Performance: 26 July 2018

TheatreWorks’ Writers Laboratory has been a long-time incubation programme aimed at nurturing and encouraging local writing. As part of this effort, TheatreWorks opens its new “Because I Love You” season with an original work from the lab. However, it could have done with further tightening and simplification before its rather polished treatment on stage.

13.13.13, written by Shen Tan, explores the institution of marriage in this day and age between two couples. The first is a traditional one between a man and a woman who are happy to live without the legality of a marriage contract, (along with a specific clause of having no children so they can enjoy their lives together). The second is a non-traditional one between two female professionals that yearn for the day that their union can be recognized legally and socially.

Tan’s piece raises many the question of the validity of marriage in today’s context. It is provocative, though some editing will help in this long 95-minute piece that drags its way to its denouement.

Sometimes, polishing the production too much has its disadvantages. And it feels this way with this piece, where this reviewer feels that a simpler more naturalistic staging can be more effective.

The use of different types of staging devices, such as multi-media (which assists the audience in visualizing some of the back stories of the characters but is not completely necessary), sometimes feel included just for the sake of it being “visually engaging”.  The set is interesting in its use of white elastic cables on the stage which defines different rooms in an apartment which can be manipulated by the performers to show how space affects their lives.  These moments are interesting visually, but extremely obstructive and irritating to the viewer trying to catch what happens on stage. The weakness in this production is the complete unnecessity of microphoning the performers in a black box space (which defeats the purpose of allowing them to use their voices naturally to carry the story effectively). The mic-ing makes this reviewer struggle to engage with the piece.

This misguided direction by Tan Shou Chen – as his first outing on a mainstage production in Singapore – has some good ensemble moments though. The cast and their chemistry does find some truth in some of the larger moments of truth in the ‘less means more’ staging (e.g. Thomas Pang’s monologue towards the end of the play with his friend’s spirit overseeing him as he speaks), though this was far and few between.

Perhaps with more subtlety and less devices to wow the overall experience of this piece, the performers would rely on a more honest way to ‘find the love’, as would also the audience.