“Long Weekend”
Reviewer: Andrew Yuen
Performance: 9 June 2016
It is incredibly jarring to stroll through the quaint and idyllic Dakota Crescent estate and then walk into the pre-show madness of Kenneth Chia’s Long Weekend. If Dakota Crescent is Singapore’s peaceful exterior, Long Weekend is the hidden interior, full of psychic repression.
The play takes place within the head of one Han Lin, mourning the loss of his lover, Keith. They are similar, lanky and with impish grins and bursting with shared anecdotes. Keith appears inside Han Lin’s head. They joke about being afraid of passing fishermen catching them holding hands near the beach (Han is a closeted gay man) and making up stories about neighbours in the opposite block. One makes promises to another not to let his eyes wander at urinals.
The play is terrific in certain places. In a surrealistic set piece, a receptionist in childbirth screens patients at a mental health clinic. The scene ramps up in intensity as the patients are vetted and shuffled out in order of urgency by the irate receptionist. Great stuff.
This play does not require you to be gay to understand it fully. It does help, however, to be familiar with certain references, such as when the characters lament the loss of “Play”, a gay club. While it is easy to understand Han Lin’s grief, the intimate scenes between him and his lover tend to meander and drag. As they lie on the floor and have loose and flowy conversation, I found myself wishing for the next scene. From the outside looking into a relationship between two people, it is difficult to empathise fully.
In another scene, a group of characters are packing some boxes. The dialogue and direction here give the audience a sense of being flies on a wall, watching these people and their candid friendships between one another. Great stuff.
In short, this play is analogous to a long weekend. It is great in parts. As things wind down it begins to meander. There are sudden tonal shifts, never telegraphed. It is a fun thing now. Now, it’s a emotional thing.
Interesting but kind of uneven.
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ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
LONG WEEKEND by Kenneth Chia
9 – 12 June 2016
Goodman Arts Centr
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Andrew Yuen is a freelance writer and photographer, whose interests lie in examining the relationships between art and society and how they affect the individual. He is fascinated by the creative processes of artists as well as art as a medium of communicative and creative expression.
