Edgy remixes to mark graduation

SINGAPORE - Theatre students at the National University of Singapore, Intercultural Theatre Institute and Lasalle College of the Arts are putting up a series of graduation performances, both edgy and boundary-breaking, with the help of local theatre professionals.

The Lasalle production will reimagine World War II by splicing Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's downfall with the classic tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, while the institute will blend Shakespeare's Pericles, Prince Of Tyre with the style of Chinese opera.

The production by NUS' theatre studies undergraduates, titled We, The Inhabitants, will remix six of Singapore playwright Haresh Sharma's plays.

There is a hint of the rare in each of these showcases.

Starring Hitler As Jekyll & Hyde marks the first time that award-winning Singapore playwright Chong Tze Chien will premiere a play in an arts school, rather than with a team of familiar actors under the umbrella of a theatre company.

But this does not mean he will have to compromise in terms of quality.

Chong, 38, says: "Sometimes, when you're working with students, you may have to teach them how to perform, how to be confident and comfortable on stage and to enunciate. I didn't have to do that. I could just go straight into character work and improvisation, like how I work with professional actors."

The allegorical play within a play is narrated by Eva Braun, Hitler's wife. She explains Hitler's horrific deeds in the form of a parable, making use of the classic tale of the mild-mannered Dr Jekyll and the monstrous Mr Hyde: two sides of the same person.

Chong was fascinated by how Hitler was trying to be an artist even when he was a politician, and this element will be woven into the play. He was also piqued by the issues of xenophobia and nationalism around the world and the "uncanny similarities" between these hot-button topics and Hitler's vitriolic speeches against assimilation. "It cuts very close to the bone," says Chong.

The work will be performed by the 13 final-year students in Lasalle's Bachelor of Arts (Honours) acting programme and will run from April 9 to 12.

The NUS show, which runs on April 9 and 10, brings together excerpts and characters from plays by Sharma which may not be as well known to a younger generation of theatregoers.

These include Lizard (1996), an absurdist drama about a mother-son pair who abuse each other and their maid. The works are set against three more prominent works from Sharma: the award-winning Off Centre (1993), now an O-level literature text; the post-

Sept 11 experimental outing godeatgod (2002), which has been revived several times; and What Big Bombs You Have!!! (2005), a twist on Little Red Riding Hood.

They were selected by Natalie Hennedige, 39, founder of Cake Theatrical Productions, who is helming the NUS show.

She knows many of the plays intimately, having spent her early professional life working with The Necessary Stage, where Sharma is resident playwright. She had performed in godeatgod and directed What Big Bombs You Have!!!.

Hennedige says: "It's put together in a new whole. It's complete on its own, so I think it will be an experience for someone who doesn't know any of the pieces or some of the pieces - you don't need to have prior knowledge to enjoy it."

Finally, seven final-year students from the Intercultural Theatre Institute will present a culmination of their intercultural theatre education with a staging of Pericles, Prince Of Tyre from Thursday to Saturday.

It is one of the most rarely performed plays by Shakespeare, although there are scholarly disputes as to how much of the script might be a "pirated version" of a very popular show in the 17th century.

Veteran Australian drama educator and director Aarne Neeme, 69, who is directing the production, was struck by certain similarities between Chinese opera and Shakespeare's plays, including the heightened poetic language and broad character types.

He adds: "Singapore is the confluence of the East and West, because it's so central to the East and so influenced by the West. It is the ideal place to explore the fusion between the different cultures.

"I wanted to see, for a Singapore audience that is educated in Chinese opera, whether it would aid their perception of Shakespeare if they saw it in those terms rather than just as a foreign import."

corriet@sph.com.sg

Book it

PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE
Where: Drama Centre Black Box, National Library Building Level 5
When: Thursday and Friday, 8pm, and Saturday, 3 and 8pm
Admission: $20 to $25 from TicketMash (go to www.ticketmash.sg/pericles) vAdvisory: Recommended for audiences 14 years and above (mature themes)

WE, THE INHABITANTS
Where: University Cultural Centre, National University of Singapore, 50 Kent Ridge Crescent
When: April 9 and 10, 8pm
Admission: $18 to $22. E-mail wetheinhabitants@gmail.com

STARRING HITLER AS JEKYLL & HYDE
Where: Flexible Performance Space, Lasalle College of the Arts, 1 McNally Street
When: April 9 to 11 at 8pm, April 12 at 3 and 8pm
Admission: Free, but registration is required. E-mail theatre@lasalle.edu.sg

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