sex.violence.blood.gore
By Alfian bin Sa’at
(co-writted with Chong Tze
Chien)
Director – Stephen Nicolazzo, Set and Costume Designer –
Eugyeene The, Costume Maker – Tessa Leigh
Wolfenbuttel Pitt, Lighting – Yasmin Santoso, Sound – Claudio Tocco
Cast – Genevieve Giuffre,
Catherine Davies, Matt Furlani, Whitney Boyd, Amy-Scott Smith, Zoe Boesen,
Caitlin Adams.
sex.violence.blood.gore is an unexpectedly fascinating political satire. However it must be said, that without
historical knowledge and experience of Singapore, its messages can be a little
cryptic and confusing at times.
Regardless, it is an engaging, absorbing, often highly amusing work
beautifully presented by gifted, articulate, eloquent actors playing with
restraint and irony.
Due to the title and the discussion
in The Age (26 June) of the author being inspired by Marquis de Sade and Foucault I was
expecting a jarring and disturbing piece of theatre, with provocative aspects
of ‘Theatre of Cruelty.’ However the
visceral implications of the title are more often realized through dialogue
than action.
Director Stephen Nicolazzo
capably and perceptively orchestrates the whole.
On a set (designed by
Eugyeene Teh) inferring ageless civilization - with make-shift Grecian columns
supporting an arch decorated by an extravagant freeze of torsos, limbs and body
parts, behind gauzy curtains scantily clad performers, wait as
though in a bordello, for their turn to be on stage.
Costumed throughout in
exquisite, extravagant and redolent undergarments, designed by Eugyeene Teh and
made by Tessa Leigh Wolffenbuttel Pitt, five females and one male actor, all in
stylized ‘oriental’ make-up, present a number confronting scenes of various
degrees of nihilism.
For me there was a twinge of
– ‘is this cultural exchange or appropriation?’
Perhaps for this fabulous adventurous theatre company such concerns
would appear petti and ‘old hat’. And
ultimately it is liberating and refreshing to watch theatre that questions
notions of the ‘politically correct' with sharp and subtle acumen.
Go MKA!
Suzanne Sandow
For Stage Whispers
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