HYPEBy Nathaniel Ng and Taina Teravainen
It’s easy to fall in love, but the reality is that it’s just as easy to fall out of it.
At the core, Closer is about the unhappy relationships of four people, the bad choices they make and the devastating consequences that seem inevitable.
Actor Adrian Pang says, “people sometimes find themselves stuck in an unhappy relationship, where obviously there’s something deeply wrong, and they stay because it’s easier than to get yourself out of it.”
The Patrick Marber play marks the debut of Pangdemonium! Productions, the theatre company set up by actor Adrian and his wife, Tracie, who is also the director. The main cast, apart from Adrian, includes Tan Kheng Hua, Keagan Kang and Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie.
For most, knowledge of Closer extends only to the 2004 film starring Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Jude Law and Clive Owen. Closer actually premiered as a stage play by in London in 1997 and was subsequently adapted for the screen, with its lines having been referenced even in songs by Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco.
When asked about the continuing appeal of Closer with its melodramatic, tragic nature, Adrian says, “Everyone likes to voyeuristically look at other people suffer. It’s slightly darker but also rooted in reality. We wanted it to be our next piece because it’s about real people and real relationships.”
Adrian and Tracie intend to open up a discussion among the audience with Closer.
“Just because it’s not talked about doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen,” Tracie says, on the audience’s possible reaction to the risque topics Closer touches on, such as the blasé attitude towards infidelity. “People have affairs. Closer isn’t moralistic; it just tells the story.”
Adrian adds that this is a play that requires some thought. One of his gripes is that theatre-goers often expect a good laugh or to be entertained by an extravaganza.
“Closer isn’t one of them. It is not spectacle. It’s a story we wanted to tell. It’s about real people with real problems. In essence, it is about these people leading very desperate lives,” he says.
Tracie and Adrian both agree, albeit laughingly, that their tastes tend to veer toward the darker end of the spectrum. Tracie’s personal favourite scene in Closer involves the simultaneous breakup of the two couples on stage, which she describes as a magical piece of writing. “It’s not a pretty scene, but the dialogue is so real and it doesn’t at all feel scripted.”
Adrian finds the same “magic” within the play’s language. He says, “[it] is full of these succinctly put lines that are so true, that expose the human condition in very simple, beautifully simple lines like, ‘I don’t love you anymore. Goodbye.’”
Regarding their own relationship, however, Adrian and Tracie are both incredibly at ease. While most shy away from mixing business with personal relationships, this couple seems to have made this seemingly dangerous equation work.
Pangdemonium! Productions, referred to as their third child from a marriage of 15 years, has been kept simple, honest and open. Their shared affinity for material that other theatre companies reject kick-started their desire to claim ownership. “Basically, to varying degrees, we’re both control freaks,” jokes Adrian.
The most pressing challenge for Pangdemonium! Proudctions, as well as the rest of the theatre community, would be to maintain the quality audiences expect from theatre. “It’s been a huge learning curve for me,” says Adrian about his shift from being on stage front to handling work behind-the-scenes. “Tracie has been holding my hand through it all.”
Working under his wife has taught him to recognise his own flaws and deficiencies, and it is she who is there to rescue him at the end of the day. “We only argue about the small stuff now,” says Tracie.
At the time of the interview, the pair was holding auditions for the musical Spring Awakening. As we wrapped up, Adrian pontificated (with tongue firmly in cheek) about what they would like to see change in the local theatre scene.
“I would like to see more people in the audience,” says Adrian, smirking. “And no coughers. Coughers should be banned.”
Closer will be staged at DBS Arts Centre till March 6. Tickets are available via Sistic.