"In this staging, the Chinese father (Michael Tan) and Malay son
(Yazid Jalil) are played by the same actors as the first. However, one
prominent element which is missing is Asnida Daud vocally accentuating
the helpless states of the characters, and suggesting the presence of
the wife’s “ghost”. The presence of this “ghost” throws the contrast in
ethnicity into sharper relief.
While the character development and psychological narrative of the
father and son are much more detailed and layered in this realistic
rendering, the contrasting ethnicity is downplayed in this staging.
Nonetheless, I am not suggesting this piece is any less enjoyable.
I savour this work with disconcerting relish. The speechless and
cyclic representation of life reminds me of film director’s Tsai
Ming-liang’s Vive L’Amour. But this show is much more repressed
and dysfunctional, as the world of the father and son is contained
within a two-room flat."
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