![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
>fruitplays by action theatre >reviewed by kenneth kwok >date:
13 jun 2002 >tired
already? go home then |
||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
First-time director but long-time theatre practitioner Low Kee Hong eschews the naturalistic approach that both scripts seem to have originally leant towards, and goes instead for something distinctly more avant-garde. Can you imagine Emily of Emerald Hill delivering her opening lines standing on a toilet bowl with her head in another one that is hanging down from her ceiling? In terms of direction, soundscape and set design, Low and designer Thoranisorn Pitikul consistently opt for choices that are self-consciously arty and possibly alienating in their abstractness. This distances the audience from Jenny, the long-suffering wife in Kon's 'Human Heart Fruit' because it makes it hard to access her as a realistic character in a realistic setting and situation; admittedly it also means that we avoid the melodrama and sentimentality that would have come with a straight reading. (And it's all done very imaginatively and cleverly, especially Mohd Helmi Fita's light design, so basically it's all very nice to look at anyway, la). Instead, Low's approach keeps the focus squarely on the turns of the narrative itself, which, for me, is the heart of the script rather than the actual character. Indeed, Jenny lacks the allure of Kon's other more famous creation; Jenny's voice is much less distinct and flavourful. But even beyond Emerald Hill, Kon can deliver a solid story, well crafted and structured, and which unravels beautifully, layer upon layer, secret upon secret till we reach the horrific end. |
||
>>'FRUIT PLAYS is a wholly solid production with much to recommend but which ultimately does not exactly go for your jugular, get under your skin and rip your heart out.' |
Tay's script, while less confident and tight than Kon's, is still an engaging piece that rocks you gently with its flashes of warmth, poignancy and humour in telling its tale of its protagonist, Sheryl, through three stages of her life. However, in short story tradition, it's all about the ending and, unfortunately, 'The Swallowed Seed' plays its hand too soon. The "Big Revelation" is telegraphed much too early and the audience is left spending the next half hour just waiting for the sting in the tail, which, when it does come, doesn't really have much sting left in it anyway because of its inevitability. Also, while Sheryl is wonderfully comic and colourful as a child, in the second and third segments, as a woman in her 20s and then an older woman living alone, she is much less interesting and slips occasionally into cliche. Considering how well-written the first segment is, the story might have been better served if it were delivered entirely from the point of view of the child as Tay appears to have a firmer grasp of that character. True, some aspects of the play would be lost without an appearance by Sheryl's older counterparts but there would also be much to gain, I suspect. |
|
You know what I am getting at, right? Kon, when will we see Samosir as Emily? *I know this
is becoming an ACTION Theatre tradition after the paintings and pillows
of 'Hopper's Women' and '1 Bed 3 Pillows' respectively, and it is a cute
marketing gimmick but really, a gimmick is still a gimmick and already
the joke is wearing thin, especially when, as in FRUIT PLAYS, it becomes
so contrived that the integrity of an otherwise-solid production is compromised. |