I have a confession: when I agreed to go for the gala premiere of Asian Boys Vol.3: Happy Endings (ABV3), I wasn’t looking forward to the play as much as the spread that would be served at the end of it. What I didn’t expect was to be entranced by a facet of society I never knew much about. When the curtain fell, I found myself wanting to share how the play went.

Quite interestingly, that was how ABV3 started. An inspirational adaption from Singapore’s first gay novel Peculiar Chris by Johann S Lee, the 3-hour long piece was beautifully crafted by resident playwright of W!ldRice Productions, Alfian Sa’at, who has brought to stage the life of Christopher Han, a gay man who learns what love is and about letting go.

ABV3 is the final installment of the trilogy Sa’at had written. Directed by the critically acclaimed Ivan Heng, the story begins in year 1992 and Ben Xiao plays the role of 19-year-old Christopher, a final-year junior college student who uncovers the ups and downs of teenage love with schoolmates Sylvia, Kenneth and Nicholas.

ABV3 is also the only play of the Asian Boys trilogy to be based on a novel. But fret not if you’re worried about sitting for 3 hours straight listening to a monologue.

Undeniably, the plot did revolve around Christopher but at the same time, the rest of the cast wasn’t in any way overshadowed. Each character had a story to tell and through the shuffling of scenes, the plot unfolds. From Sylvia’s letting go of a past relationship to Kenneth’s denial of his own sexuality, the cast has successfully conveyed their sides of the story.

These individual stories thicken the plot. As the cast pour out their individual stories, you’d feel overwhelmed but on the other hand, you feel strangely empty, as if something within has shriveled up as you identify with each of the characters.

A word of caution stands if you’re looking for a comedy that plays up the stereotypes of limp wrists and drag queens sashaying because this play is not for you. That’s not to say ABV3 doesn’t mention any of these, but the play does its share of debunking myths about homosexuality while portraying a new side of this minority group.

To say the least, ABV3 has provided an in-depth view into the hedonistic lifestyle that gays are reputed to lead. This is shown in the clincher after the transmission when the track is fast-forwarded to 2007 and Christopher comes back, from spending 15 years abroad, to a Singapore that he no longer recognises.

Unknown to Chris, all of his old friends, including himself, are haunted by a past that they thought they had gotten over but are forced to revisit by his timely return. But this time around, there was finally closure.

What really made the play stand out were the social issues that it attempts to address through an easily relatable plot of ageing, hilarious innuendos and lightly veiled insinuations about the perceived gay lifestyle and societal issues.

Also, laden with sarcasm are the clichéd themes of “falling in love, growing up, moving on, letting go” but by the end of ABV3, a more dominant one surfaces.

In my opinion, it is none other than the fact that change happens to everyone, straight or otherwise, and that the important thing is not to lose oneself in the course of any transition.

 

Running Time: 180 min

Plays from July 11 to July 29
Cast: Ben Xiao, Robin Goh, Genevieve Lim, Pierre Goh, Galvin Yeo, Lim Kay Siu, Hansel Tan, Karen Tan, Koey Foo, Timothy Nga
Director: Ivan Heng
Playwright: Alfian Sa’at
Venue: Drama Centre, National Library Level 3
Tickets are available $33 onwards at www.sistic.com.sg or call 6348 5555