A group of
immortals and their teenage offspring combat identity issues and physical
weakness to overpower demons who are trying to take over the world.
For the older immortals, whose powers have diminished over the years
due to a lack of devotees, the Armageddon-like crisis allows them to
regain powers that are garnered through the desperate prayers of humankind.
For the teenage immortals, who have never wielded such powers, the situation
gives them their first taste of their supernatural abilities.
In its original melding of fable and realism, the premise of Immortalx
is filled with potential. The plot is inhabited by instantly recognisable
characters of the Chinese deity pantheon, like Ne Zha, the Earth God,
the Jade Emperor and Sun Wu Kong. These are easy targets for lampooning
and so any modern adaptation is immediately funny, such as the erstwhile
child-deity Ne Zha becoming a stodgy, moustachio-ed teacher and de facto
principal of the school for teenage immortals, and who is now known
by his students as Mr Ne (Judy Ngo). The older immortals cling to their
past, while the teenage immortals, like first-generation immigrant children,
are caught between past and present, and more than a little confused
about their identities.
The plot also provides opportunities for deeper insights to be mined.
The tension between tradition and modernity is apparent in the dilemma
of the immortal teenagers, who are urged to learn traditional immortal
skills even though these are obviously surpassed by modern technology.
The teenagers' journey towards adulthood and self-realisation
is another rich area. A deeper layer of meaning is added to the question
of deity when we learn that the immortals derive their powers directly
from the prayers of devotees. This posited inter-dependence between
devotion and godliness could hint at an underlying critique of fair-weather
devotees or, more daringly, all religious believers.
But the play never delves into these themes. The script was perfunctory
with regard to these matters, and remained satisfied with mining the
comedic and action-oriented potential of the plot. As a result, Immortalx
skips aimlessly around the issues it raises, and dwells largely on the
rowdy adventures that the teenagers experience in their quest to free
the universe from the mischief of demons. Some of these "adventures",
like a trip to a dusty shophouse in Shanghai in search of the Jade Emperor,
were too shoddily staged to be convincing. Apart from the use of the
set to evoke a dragon and hills, the sets were also disappointingly
uninspired.
Characterisation also suffered as a result of the superficial nature
of the script. The main theme of identity was too neatly resolved -
with the realization that immortals gain powers during a crisis (when
people pray a lot) and then become regular non-powerful beings during
peaceful periods (when people don't pray). For protagonist Ao
Mi (Liu Xiao Yi) who spent most of the play in angst over his identity,
his casual acceptance of the situation of modern-day immortals at the
end was just not convincing.
Nevertheless, the cohesive ensemble cast worked well to create energetic
scenes that buzzed with action and dialogue. Light-hearted jokes abounded
in Immortalx, with some successes despite a heavy reliance
on easy clichés. Judy Ngo's middle-aged Ne Zha laid out
in fresh lines the age-old clichés of the school disciplinarian
that we all loved, mocked and sometimes feared. Sun Wu Kong, now plump
and complacent after living in a cushy zoo, was also an effective comic
character. Catherine Wong worked the audience deftly; by throwing in
a Hong Kong accent and milking it to the roars of the audience, she
played on the various stereotypical Hong Kong screen productions of
Journey to the West.
Overall, more restraint and editing would have been helpful to shave
away superfluous elements which cluttered the plot and distracted the
audience. The throwaway character of the bitchy secretary to a corporate
Er Lang Shen, while an amusing distraction, added little to the plot.
At times, it became difficult to keep track of where the plot was going,
such as during the long interludes with the school principal who is
caught in a state of limbo between universes. The raucous twins, the
messed-up children of Cowherd and Weaver Maiden (Renee Chua and Andrew
Lua), came off as ridiculous rather than unstable. Overacting on their
part distracted from the plot and clouded their characters' deeper
vulnerabilities. The play's eagerness to play to the galleys also
saw a number of baffling jokes tossed in - such as the mistaken
thrashing of a fellow immortal teen instead of a demon - without much
point. Too often, jokes that were worth one or two chuckles were repeated
needlessly until the laughter ran dry. Tiresome elements like these
contributed to the especially ponderous pacing in the second half.
The use of magic tricks, an element played up in promotional press
coverage, would have been more successful if the tricks had been smoother
in execution. As it was, the unveiling of each trick was a (somewhat
anti-climatic) event in itself, rather than an element seamlessly blended
into the plot to support the pretension that the immortals possess magic
powers. In any case, a spot of imaginative staging could have produced
the same effect without exposing the actors to fireball burns and other
magicians' ailments.
While the younger audience was tickled pink by the surfeit of jokes
and shenanigans, the mature crowd seemed less taken. For the feat of
attracting and enthralling an eager youth audience, I take my hat off
to The Theatre Practice. But for whatever else Immortalx set
out to do artistically, the play did not live up to its premise.
First Impression
A comedy about modern day deities whose powers have diminished due
to a lack of devotees. The teenage offspring of these deities struggle
with identity issues, while the older generation (like Ne Zha) seek
to retain their traditional deity powers even though they are obviously
surpassed by modern technology. A cohesive ensemble cast who performed
their own magic tricks, no less, was not enough to salvage the perfunctory
script and uninspired staging. There were scattered kernels of interest,
like the tension between tradition and modernity, but these were not
explored beyond the surface. While Immortalx managed to milk
its unconventional premise and throwaway humour to generate appreciative
laughs from its youth audience, it unfortunately didn't press many of
my buttons.
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"While the younger audience was tickled pink by the surfeit of
jokes and shenanigans, the mature crowd seemed less taken. For the feat
of attracting and enthralling an eager youth audience, I take my hat
off to The Theatre Practice. But for whatever else Immortalx
set out to do artistically, the play did not live up to its premise."
Credits
Playwright: Wu Xi
Director: Alvin Chiam
Set & Lightning Designer: Lim Woan Wen
Sound Designer: Varian Tan
Costume Designer: Tan Hong Chye
Magic Designer & Consultant: Jack Seet
Production Stage Manager: Ting Hock Hoe
Assistant Stage Manager: Tang Ji Ching
Crew: Wong Chee Wai, Chan Lee Lee, Sandesh Gurung
Wardrobe Supervisor: Engie Ho
Wardrobe Assistant: Rachel Chua
Lighting Operator: Chiew Jin Wen
Subtitle Operator: Koh Boon Han
Cast: Judy Ngo, Liu Xiaoyi, Andrew Lua, Renee Chua, Windson Liong, Koh
Wan Ching, Catherine Wong, Ace Chew
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