Singapore- The Singapore Theatre Festival features an intriguing Malaysian play about murder and perverse love.
CAN Singapore decline, weaken, and then fall victim to foreign conquerors? In a modern take on an old legend, this might just happen if meritocracy is replaced by feudal style corruption and cronyism.
This is the intriguing theme that runs through The Swordfish, Then the Concubine, the latest play written by one of Malaysia‘s premiere playwrights, Kee Thuan Chye.
Drawing on a legendary story in Sejarah Melayu (The Malay Annals), the play has swordfish attacking ancient Singapura (the old Sanskrit name for Singapore); the Sultan orders his men to use their legs to form a rampart against the lethal fish – only to end up with many more fatalities.
A boy then proposes to the Sultan that the stems of banana plants be used for the rampart. As expected, the swordfish get stuck in the woody stems and are easily slaughtered, thus saving the kingdom. Does the boy then get a Datukship?
Ministers whisper in the Sultan‘s ear that the smart boy may, when he grows up, take over the kingdom. And so the boy is executed.
The allusions to issues of meritocracy, leadership insecurities, and national progress are more than evident.
“One cannot be seen to be too clever.... The play is based on ancient myths, but it‘s not a straight re-telling. It‘s actually about our times,” says Kee, who is an Associate Editor at The Star. “It‘s fun and cheeky yet very serious.”
The story continues. A generation later, the Sultan‘s successor, his son, shames his concubine by having her impaled in public on a trumped-up charges of religious deviationism plus a murder conspiracy involving a bomoh. All this brings untold shame to her family even though, at her trial, there are doubts about the judge who declares certain issues “irrelevant”.
Kee explains that in Sejarah Melayu, a sacred covenant was made in bygone times between the Malays and their rulers: that they will serve the ruler with blind loyalty as long as he does not humiliate them.
“But if the ruler should do so, it will lead to the downfall of the kingdom,” notes Kee. What then will become of Singapura?
Swordfish will open next month‘s OCBC Singapore Theatre Festival and will be directed by Ivan Heng, the artistic director of W!ld Rice, the republic‘s internationally acclaimed professional theatre company.
The 15-member ensemble cast includes some of Singapore‘s most well-known theatre faces, such as Lim Yubeng, Timothy Nga, Sani Hussin, Najib Soiman, Rodney Oliveiro, and Elena Wong.
The play also made the Top 5 in the International Playwriting Festival 2006 organised by the Warehouse Theatre in Croydon, outside London.
Kee is no stranger to political satire. His last play, We Could **** You, Mr Birch (written 14 years ago), revisited the assassination of Perak‘s first British Resident, James W.W. Birch, and questioned whether history could be distorted for propaganda purposes.
He is also known for 1984 Here And Now (written in 1985), where he transplanted George Orwell‘s Big Brother-controlled society to a Malaysian situation.
Like Birch (which was so popular that it had a second showing), Swordfish also mixes different contexts of English to make its point: “Sometimes the characters speak formal royal language, sometimes American slang,” notes Kee.
Kee does not believe in writing mere “talking heads” drama but prefers to throw in various elements to create unorthodox wit and sparkle. For instance, he has written a rap to go with live gamelan music from a nine-piece orchestra.
He will also be using traditional wayang kulit (Malay shadow puppet) clown characters such as Pak Dogol and Waksir. “Sometimes they are in the action, sometimes they are outside it as commentators,” he clarifies.
The scenes of swordfish mayhem will involve very inventive portrayals of physical theatre by the director, says Kee. “It will be very funny, but obviously, with dark implications,” he opines.
Swordfish has been in the works for several years, it seems.
“It took me a long time to find the right structure for the play. I kept revising and revising it. But, personally, I‘m really happy with it now,” he relates.
“It‘s going to be exciting theatre, if I do say so myself. There will be war, magic, intrigues, and perverse love. It‘s an epic!”
‘The Swordfish, Then the Concubine‘ will be performed at the Drama Centre Theatre at Singapore‘s National Library Building (Level 3), from Aug 6 to 10 as part of the OCBC Singapore Theatre Festival. Shows are at 8pm with additional 3pm matinees on Aug 9 and 10. Tickets are available from Sistic 02-6348 5555 or sistic.com.sg. The Theatre Festival runs from Aug 6 to 24. By ANDREW SIA
Source: http://www.star- ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/27/soundnstage/1669814&sec=soundnstage (July 27, 2008)