Sex, marriage and Murder

THE ASEAN ECONOMIC Community is a little over seven months away and many of us are still learning a few greetings and memorising the name of the other nine member countries’ capital cities.
In terms of the performing arts, the caretaker government has allocated a special AEC budget that allows Thai students to dress up and study the traditional dances of our neighbours, though quite what this hopes to achieve is anyone’s guess.
While traditional performing arts are an important part of each country’s national heritage, a look at their contemporary arts could give us a much better idea of what our neighbours are all about.
Thanks to the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s Pentas series, a year-round platform designed to “further develop the burgeoning community interest in Malay programmes” in addition to the annual Pesta Raya – the Malay Festival of Art, I learned a little more about contemporary Malay theatre.
Staged at the Theatre Studio last weekend, Rumah Anak Teater’s “Laut Lebih Indah Dari Bulan”, or “The Charming Ocean and the Poor Moon”, described as a “ stage play trilogy of sex, marriage and murder”, was performed in Malay with English surtitles at three sold-out performances.
The first play “Aku Nak Jadi Bintang” or “I Wanna be a Star”, a monologue written by 45-year-old playwright Nam Ron back in 2003 and based on a true life event, was as relevant as ever in this era of Instagram and selfies.
It told the story of Indah, a country girl determined to be a superstar and doing everything to achieve that goal including posing for nude photos to be posted online so she could become famous.
We watched as she evolved into an escort with a love for role-playing and how one mishap with a client by the name of Laut who wanted to play rapist and victim, led to her death and his conviction of murder.
The second play “Laut Yang Tenang” or “The Still Ocean”, which Nam Ron finished last year, offered a different dimension, introducing us to Laut and his lawyer, a woman, who engaged in dialogue and talked directly to the audience. The jigsaw was completed after the interval, as we heard and watched Laut’s pregnant wife Bulan recounting how she met him and expressing her trust in him in “Laut Lebih Indah Dari Bulan” or “The Charming Ocean and the Poor Moon” which was written as a sequel to the first play.
On an empty stage with a minimal set and props as well as low-key dramatic lighting, the three actresses, Sharifah Amani, Sofia Jane and Vanidah Imran as well as the sole actor Benjy carried the whole trilogy well, delivering clear monologues that proved that they were cast for their talent and not just because they happen to be well known TV and movie stars.
Overall, the trilogy was captivating and straight to the point. That said, the effect might have been even stronger and the three stories more united had there been no 15-minute intermission after the first two plays, which combined lasted only about 40 minutes. I was expecting a set change during the break but nothing happened.
I can also think of a number of contemporary Thai spoken dramas that deal with a variety of the issues we face here that perhaps should have received government support to travel overseas. Complete with a powerpoint file of English surtitles, they would show that Thai theatre is now much more than khon and the Ramakien – and teach our neighbours a little more about contemporary Thailand.

The writer thanks The Esplanade’s Gina Koh for all assistance.
 SEE YOU ON THE FLIPSIDE
 - Experience “the lighter side of arts” in the Esplanade’s annual “Flipside” from May 30 to June 8, with a variety of free and ticketed local and foreign dance, theatre, music and visual arts. For more information, visit www.Esplanade.com/flipside/2014.