Connecting the past to the present

International acclaimed playwright and director Edward Lam has been reinterpreting Chinese classics, namely “Water Margin”, “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”, “Journey to the West” and “Dream of the Red Chamber”, with different dramaturgical approaches since 2006. 

His latest play is “What Is Sex?”, an adaptation of “Red Chamber. It was performed earlier this year in Taiwan and Hong Kong and most recently at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s Huayi: Chinese Festival of Arts, which ended earlier this month. 

The same festival also hosted “Awakening”, another “Red Chamber” adaptation, two years ago. While “Awakening” featured an all-female cast, many performing male roles, led by Canto-pop superstar Denise Ho, the 14-member cast of “What Is Sex?” comprised 12 actors, many in female roles, and two actresses but no superstars. Notwithstanding the attention-grabbing title, the lack of star power was probably was less of a magnet. However, on the plus side, the reduction in musical numbers allowed the audience to focus more on the story. Both works do, however, complement each other thematically.

Focusing on two women with failed marriages and their relationships with scores of other characters, Lam wasn’t interested in retelling stories with which the audience was already familiar. He instead chose to focus more on the women’s psychological states than their dramatic stories. He also wanted to show how these were more relevant to present day situations than traditional stories and was successful in blending and blurring the line between them. 

I would hope that having watched these contemporary adaptations with a modern and slick mise en scene, many young audience members, would now want to pick up these classic novels, read or re-read them, and see what they mean to them, here and now, personally and individually. And of course, they might also want to check which characters are real and which are Lam’s creations.

We can also hope that Thai theatre artists could enjoy the same level of experimentation, and fun, in connecting our past to our present. After all, a classic means a work that defies time in its relevance and should never be presented merely as a museum artefact.

In a culturally sophisticated society, reinterpreting a classic never means tampering with, or destroying, a national treasure. 

 

NEXT UP AT THE DURIAN

From April 2 to May 10, the Esplanade continues its celebration of Singapore’s 50th anniversary, with “Fifty” – 50 Singaporean plays. For details, www.TheStudios.com.sg/2015.

The English National Ballet will perform “Le Corsaire” from May 14 to 17. Details are at www.DansFestival.com.

Book tickets at www.Sistic.com.sg.