Food, Fast & Starve – A Review of Ode to a Famished Existence (Phase 1)

Ode to a Famished Existence (Phase 1), an arts-in-development by Sourcing Within 

Viewed on 28 November 2021, 8pm (online)

                                                         (Photo: Sourcing Within)

A lady in an attire which resembles the Chinese funeral clothing is mourning. The performance/rehearsal space, though transmitted through the cyberspace, emits the layering of soft weeping and mourning sounds.

The solemn scene suddenly breaks into a comical moment in which different food dishes are mentioned with absurd and surreal movements. We have to eat no matter what we face in life, don’t we?

Despite adversities, problems or setbacks we face in life, food is there to comfort us. Familiar Asian and Western fare is narrated with animated movements from the ensemble (Ranice Tay, Eleanor Ee, Michelle Hariff, Joel Low, Voon Ee Sing), bringing the dishes to a culmination of farce.

The high note is then decelerated into an earnest act of a philosophical examination of food and hunger. The performers question the meaning of hunger in our existence and what we truly yearn for. What is "food" to keep us alive in life? What is "food" for these performers? What about "food" for the viewers who go through this journey of questioning with the performers? While questioning, the performers move in great synergy and the energy is balanced. A unified level of training is demonstrated through the synchronicity, not just in their physical actions and bodies, but in the harmonisation of voices too.

While food seems to be the centre of life and many could be obsessed with food,  as presented in the beginning of the piece, we are introduced to the notion of fasting next. The performers discuss about hunger artists who did “professional fasting” in history. They were also known as the “romantic starving artists”.  Some of these artists were awarded with monetary rewards. Is a hunger artist a symbolic representation of one who is seeking spiritual fulfilment or one who is seeking fame and attention?

Streaming from the conversation on hunger artists in history, the performers question and comment on the prevalent situation of poor artists with a satirical approach. One makes a remark, “The hunger artist was working earnestly, but the world was cheating him of his rewards”.

Throughout the performance, the soundscape is formed by objects and props such as a drum and kitchen utensils, as well as the performer’s voice. Richness of sonic layers fills up the space.

Michelle Hariff impresses with her subtle use of changes in tone and voice to deliver her well-articulated lines and songs. Together with the ensemble, the image of a thousand-armed goddess is created with her pure and gentle timbre vocals. She has also demonstrated great control of comical moments in this scene. 

(Photo: Sourcing Within)

Ranice Tay, the dramaturg and performer, delivers her actions energetically with great ease. With a set of chopsticks used as her hair accessory, she is draped in a traditional robe. She seems to be the oriental figure of the piece which represents the need for groundedness and yet animateness in the artistic journey of seeking and questioning by the ensemble.

The film was shot in a single take by the director Ang Gey Pin with the essence of show captured. It only takes a director who is an actress herself and works so closely with the ensemble to be able to capture the quintessence of the piece. Every action of each performer is visible to the viewer without any edits. Each soul is exposed and yet it is so organic to watch. 

Are you truly awake? — Dreamtalk

Dreamtalk (online) presented by NUS Centre for the Arts, 4 September 2020

“Are you truly awake, or are we all just passing-by in a dream?”

In the performance film, multiple images of the dreamer (Ranice Tay) and the guardian (Ang Gey Pin) are seen with the use of the superimpose effect. The uncanny doubling of the two characters poses a sense of duplicity and illusion, which questions: Who is dreaming? Who is the dreamer? Are we who we are? Or are we multiple versions of who we think we are?

The central images of the performance are a huge silky translucent cloth which gives the hazy and yet poetic portrayal of ethereal manifestation, and a black umbrella which is highly symbolic in the piece.

The silky cloth seems to suggest a web of dreams presented in our lives. The significance of the black umbrella speaks strongly to me. Though the performance centres around "dreams", it is about the in-between state of life and death to me. The black umbrella in a Taoist funeral ritual means "cover for the soul". It is used to transport the dead to another world. This is thus, a dream state of the spirits, ancestors, and ghosts from the present and the past.

The dreamer is holding on to a lamp and umbrella. She is like a spirit/soul being guided through the underworld of dreams haunted by her memories and subconsciousness.

The sounds of recurring heartbeats suggest that “dream” is a state between living and dying. The merging of songs, verses and sounds brings me through a surreal and intense journey in the dreamscape.

In a funeral, red packets/red strings are given to the family, relatives and friends who attend the occasion as a form of blessing to them. In the film, the use of red amid the dull colours of the costumes (black, blue, white) signifies auspiciousness, which gives hope to the dreamer.

The dreamer, covered in a huge sheet of white paper and waking from it, is hinting that the dead is moving from one realm to another realm, through the planes of existence. The way she carries the huge piece of white paper and sculpturing it with care is like paying homage to the ancestors before her…

The piece ends with predominantly blue lights with a tint of orange, which engulfs me with a transcendental and intimate experience. Perhaps, the whole human existence is about moving beyond death, and attaining deathlessness as life itself is an illusion. Wake up!

While the superimposed scenes which depict the double-images of each character work really well to provide a dream-like state, not knowing who the dreamer is, I wish to see less editing effects such as the constant shifts of edited shots and the split screen. For instance, I wish it could be a pan of camera angle from one action to the next instead of having a split screen to depict two simultaneous actions, which is closer to how a live performance is experienced in a continuous fashion. I wish that the videographer could follow through a one-shot sequence more often, even if there is a need to shift from wide angles to close-up angles.

However, ultimately, I admire the risk-taking spirit that the team has taken. It is courageous and this is definitely a theatre project much needed during this pandemic period. It is a truly powerful piece of work. I am totally immersed in the heightened experience.

Watch it! Two more shows today:

5 Sep 2020, 2.59pm SGT (GMT+8)
5 Sep 2020, 7.59pm SGT (GMT+8)

Get your tickets from SISTIC: https://www.sistic.com.sg/events/zldt0920

 

 (Photo credit: Sourcing Within)

 

 

She Danced, She Wandered, She Wondered with a “friend” in I Dance I Wander I Wonder

I Dance I Wander I Wonder (7 February 2020)

by Messy Noodles Productions 
(A school production by Year 2 students of Republic Polytechnic)

Venue: The Republic Cultural Centre Black Box

How does it feel to watch your play restaged with a different interpretation? I first wrote a 30-minute version of I Dance I Wander I Wonder in 2003, and it was staged under The Esplanade’s Sparks programme. In 2004, it was developed into a 60-minute play which was staged at The Substation Black Box and Singapore Art Museum Auditorium. Subsequently, over the years, it was also staged in schools and libraries. 

I Dance I Wander I Wonder is an adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's renowned tale The Little Prince. Fiby encounters Little I, a visitor from Zero Mountain. Little I tells Fiby that she would like to seek advice on how to take care of her rose, the only flower that grows on her mountain; the only rose she believes exists in the world. Fiby is unable to give any advice, but agrees to travel with her in search for an answer. In their galactic travels and wanderings, they meet several characters, each a different and equally undesirable manifestation of adulthood.

Interestingly, director Gavin Low brought I Dance I Wander I Wonder to a deeper level which conveys a social message about expectations and depression with a twist in the storyline with his Year 2 students “Messy Noodles Productions” from Republic Polytechnic’s Diploma in Arts and Theatre Management programme.

The play was adapted to reflect a state of unease many young people are facing— pressure from parents, schools and society to attain academic excellency and achievements.

The play began at the lobby area where the audience encountered Fiby (played by Nur Elly Nawwarah Bte J) who fumbled through her bag for antidepressant drugs. At the same venue, Little I (played by Janette Audrey Chee Min) came to Fiby and offered Fiby a solution to get out of her current predicament— by bringing her around the world in search of a solution to protect her rose from being eaten up by her goat. 

Audience members were brought into the black box where a queen (played by Nur Jannah Bte Mohd Rafi) was seen to be ordering the audience to be seated at the intimate traverse setting swiftly. With that, Little I and Fiby were brought to the “Mountain of Order”. The Queen claimed to be in control of everything around her, including each move to be made by Little I and Fiby. In a split second, Fiby saw the daily demands from her mother manifested in the queen, shown through the effective use of video projections, which drove her to a state of desperation. Frustrated with the authoritative queen, both travelers left the queen.

Shortly after that, they met a drunkard who was too drunk to sustain a rational conversation with the two. Roberts Chanel Christine played the drunkard with high energy and appropriate use of high-pitch squeaky voice at times. However, it may not be appropriate for the drunkard to wear a rose in the hair, as Little I still believed that her rose was the only rose in the world in that scene. 

The duo later met a businesswoman (played by Nicole Tan Jean-E), a manifestation of Fiby’s teacher in reality who articulated her expectations coldly. Next, they encountered a “3 brains better than 1” agency (played by Siti Hajar Bte Mohd Hatta, Roberts Chanel Christine and Nur Jannah Bet Mohd Rafi) that charges one dollar per second for each question that their client poses, and five dollars per second for the answer to be provided by the agency. Little I and Fiby did not have any money with them, and thus decided to leave the agency without getting any answer. This scene was delivered with skillful choreography and effective use of gigantic masks.

Disheartened with the search, Little I was on the verge of giving up. However, Fiby cheered Little I up with her troupe of dancers that appeared with an energetic, sensual and entertaining dance called BollyMartial (a modification from TechnoMartial in the original play). The two were invigorated, and continued with their search for an answer, but it was only to Little I’s devastation when she saw roses which were displayed by the audience as they continued to travel.

The two finally learned from a wise fisherwoman (played b Nur Insyirah Bte Rosli) who related to them that the river she lives by is unique to her as she has established a bond with it, even though there are numerous rivers around the world. While the scene was delivered with a sense of simplicity and purity, the soundscape painted a picturesque of the sea with the sound of waves instead of a river. 

 

At the end of the play, Fiby returned the bag of drugs to Little I. The parting was difficult, but Fiby left her imaginary friend with courage and confidence.

A meaningful twist to the story, the play connects the audience with mental health problems many face— anxiety and depression.

The 7-member cast sustained the 30-minute play with their strong and convicted portrayal of the characters, effective engagement of body movements, varied rhythms in their actions and interesting interactions with the audience. The cast comprised students who have to take up other production roles as part of the module and acting was not even a gradable component for this project. One would never know that they are not trained in acting!