Addison Thomas Wong
In the Peranakan tradition, pineapple tarts ave to be made in the most delicate and intricate manner, which often results in hours and hours’ worth of preparation time and sweat.
Each circular tart has to be of the exact same diameter (10 cm) and thickness (0.7 cm) as every other in the batch. The tart has to be baked for exactly 10 minutes; no less, so that it’s not too fragile that it crumbles when bitten, and no more, so that it doesn’t become too dry, hard or crispy. The pineapple jam filling has to be shaped to a perfect round and curve, and the circumference of each jam mound has to be kept constant throughout, so that any 2 pieces would look like identical twins.
Indeed, the Peranakan culture has with it an infinite collection of rules and traditions that leaves no space for exceptions and excuses, and playwright Desmond Sim (Beautiful Boxer) brings that across crystal clear in his latest piece, Postcards from Rosa.
Bibik Rosa is a 70-year-old feisty grandmother from Singapore’s Katong, who’s lived a dramatic life with a basketful of life lessons and experiences. In this 75-minute expedition of her life story, she pours out every juicy detail of her childhood days with a nasty stepmother, her married life as a slave to her in-laws, and her maternal days with 6 difficult children to raise and a special grandson, Benny.
Neo Swee Lin puts up another one-woman show, after 1990’s Emily of Emerald Hill and 1992’s My Mother’s Chest, in this organic comedy of a play that brings justice to the Peranakan culture in all its infinite and minute details, and delivers a tour de force performance.
The veteran thespian takes on a multitude of characters – from Rosa to her stepmother, from her parents to her in-laws, her children to her grandchildren – and distinguishes each role most elaborately with the help of only the actress in her. There are no costume changes, no set changes and, of course, no fellow actors to resonate brilliant performances off or to help her along.
With that, Swee Lin plays the imaginary friend game brilliantly, sinking herself and the audience into well drawn-out characters with 7 different accents and elaborately defined scenes. With her smooth and swift transitions from one character to the other within hefty dialogues, Swee Lin leaves no area for confusion. She’s an artist with a clear vision and full control of the roles she’s challenged with and the atmosphere that her characters are defined in, so much that audiences will hardly find any opportunity to be lost. On top of that, she brings to the stage one of the coolest grandmothers we will ever come across.
Sim’s coverage of the Peranakan culture is crafted most insightfully, down to the last Peranakan superstition and has local-flavoured humour splashed all over the elaborate details so that the final product is nowhere near a mundane history lesson or an endless museum tour. In fact, there’s much about the play that is heartwarming and touching, with most of it being a genuine personal sharing from Rosa herself.
What caused the production to not necessarily fall, but become awkward for a few minutes, however, was the series of dark scenes that came abruptly near the end. As far as Peranakans are concerned, or any race for that matter, it’s not logical for an elderly to curse and swear the way Rosa did in her low moments.
Nevertheless, with a chair, a luggage and a 2-metre-tall book as the only props, Postcards from Rosa, poses much opportunity for creativity and imagination to sip in, and there’s plenty of that in this Peranakan bundle of joy and love. It’s a play that audiences can easily identify with through either personal experiences or observations, because that’s exactly what the play is based on. On top of that, one will probably find him or herself in one of the characters simply because of how true each of them are in their nature.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Production Details:
Running Time: 75 mins
Cast: Neo Swee Lin
Director: Loretta Chen
Playwright: Desmond Sim
Postcards From Rosa is on until Nov 25 at The Room Upstairs @ ACTION Theatre’s 42 Waterloo Street.
Tickets are being sold at Sistic the following prices:
Tuesday to Thursday & Sunday Evening, 8pm
Standard – $40
Friday & Saturday Evening, 8pm
Standard – $45
Saturday & Sunday Matinee, 3pm
Standard – $35
For more information, please visit the Sistic website.