Apocalypse: LIVE!

published on Aug 18 2008 - 17:49

The Lion City has been destroyed – so what happens next? A pitch-black new comedy posits a much funnier scenario than you might expect. Laura Dannen gets perspective on Singapore’s fictional finale It’s 2058: Singapore faces annihilation, melting under a rain of fire, and no one knows what the hell to do. Cue a story that’s part-political satire, part-social commentary, asking the question: when the time comes, will Singaporeans help each other, or just themselves? Though Apocalypse: LIVE! – part of the OCBC Singapore Theatre Festival and presented by W!LD RICE – might sound a bit heavy, its treatment by award-winning local director Samantha Scott-Blackhall (The Physicists, Quills) and script by Straits Times reporter-turned-playwright Ken Kwek are anything but. Reactions to the natural disaster vary from terror to concern over whether the Great Singapore Sale will be interrupted. This is black comedy incarnate. ‘The play deals with a pretty intense situation, but it’s still definitely funny,’ says Risa Okamoto, 29, who plays Asian-American news reporter Lisa, assigned to cover the apocalypse with local anchorman David. ‘Serious topics might be intimidating to think about on their own, but with a light sprinkling of clever humour, they become more accessible, inviting more analysis.’ Witty banter between journalists, military officials and Singaporeans running amok comes courtesy of Kwek, 29, who turns to long-form playwriting for the first time after a successful premiere with short plays. (He won the Best Playwright award for his ten-minute piece at June’s Short + Sweet Singapore festival.) After ending his two-and-a-half-year stint as a political reporter for the Times last August – during which he went head to head with Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in a moment often referenced on local blogs – Kwek had plenty to say about a journalist’s role in Singapore, too. ‘I was very close to the material, and foolishly, of course, wanted to shed light on what the newspaper industry is really like in Singapore,’ says Kwek, noting that his first script for Apocalypse: LIVE! was much longer and dealt with significantly less ‘theatrical’ issues like censorship. ‘[But] I don’t want to simplify this play as a diatribe about press freedom, or lack thereof – it’s not.’ Rather, the play imagines the state of Singapore 50 years from now, from the make-up of its people to its landscape; after decades of change and growth, what does it look like? ‘It looks pretty much exactly as it does now,’ says Scott-Blackhall with a smile, ‘but with much more technological advancement, and a lot more commercialisation. Not with the sci-fi element though.’ Though she remained tight-lipped about details of the play’s plot and set, Scott-Blackhall did say one visual concept might make its way onstage. ‘I always wonder where our waste goes – are we using it to reclaim land?’ she asks. ‘So if there’s a natural disaster, does that mean everything is going to come up? Are we just going to be a country of rubbish?’ So, feasibly, the story goes like this: a day after ‘Singapore gets blown to smithereens’ (to quote Okamoto), some intrepid Singaporeans – led by activist Jessie Soon and spiritual leader Simon Sitoh – tackle rebuilding their home amid the wasteland of water bottles and nasi lemak takeaway containers. Reporters David and Lisa sort their way through truth and fiction, depending on the sound bites they get from Major General Abdul Aziz, who assumes control of the Lion City in a ‘non-effeminate military coup’. (Great line alert: ‘You’re a vaguely articulate piece of nothing,’ the general tells David.) The result is a hilarious discussion as to whether the best – or worst – of Singapore will come out in a crisis. ‘[In simpler terms], if something goes wrong, if a road block happens, does anyone actually stop to direct traffic? Or do we go, aiyah, where’s the police, why aren’t they here yet?’ asks Scott-Blackhall. ‘With so much progress, we become a lot more selfish. We tend to just look out for ourselves as opposed to looking out for society or your community… [ultimately], how much responsibility do you take as an individual, or is it all about the Government taking care of it? ‘The play looks at these questions,’ she adds. ‘Not necessarily answers, but looks.’

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