Now that restrictions have eased greatly, Wild Rice theatre company in Singapore is welcoming theatre lovers back to their stage performances. They’ve lined up three theatre shows in Singapore in the coming months for you to dive back in. Each critically acclaimed theatre production has a different subject matter.
Faghag is a one-woman show by Pam Oei with a message of love, pride and acceptance. Straight Acting is a theatre production that hopes to get straight to the point about the challenges of starting a family in Singapore for LGBTQ+ couples. Lastly, Don’t Call Him Mr. Mari Kita is a stage performance celebrating Singapore’s musical heritage.
Ivan Heng, Wild Rice theatre company’s Founding Artistic Director, shares why these three productions were chosen. “Wild Rice has always prided itself on making world-class theatre for and about Singapore. These shows tell important stories about who we are and who we hope we can be. They explore underrepresented communities, they provide sharp insight into our past, present and future, and they celebrate our history and heritage. You’ll laugh and cry and think, all while having a fantastic night out, sharing in the live communal experience of theatre.”
All the shows will run at The Ngee Ann Kongsi Theatre. This is Wild Rice’s main stage venue in its performing arts complex in Funan Mall.
Presenting: Faghag (R18 rating)
Pam Oei wears the faghag label with pride. She has many memories with gay friends since she was a teenager. These include coaxing gay boyfriends out of the closet, attending her first gay wedding in 2001, fighting to repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code in 2007 and acting as Pink Dot’s Countdown Queen every year.
She wrote Faghag to tell the Singapore LGBTQ+ story.
“Between 2004 to 2006, I did a series of popular comedy sketches at Happy, a now defunct gay bar in Tanjong Pagar. I thought I would string the material together for a full show. Of course, I have many, many gay friends and watch American comics like Margaret Cho whose audience is largely a LGBTQ crowd. I thought there would be room for a theatre show like Faghag in Singapore.”
Another reason for this theatre production was to bring awareness to penal code 377A. “It still exists in Singapore, and it criminalises homosexual sex here. Faghag is my way of bringing awareness to this discriminatory law. It has to go.”
In this stage production, Pam plays multiple characters as she sings, dances and shares jokes and heart-warming stories about her memorable experiences. She’s accompanied on the piano by Julian Wong, one of Singapore’s leading musical directors.
This stage production premiered at Wild Rice’s Singapore Theatre Festival in 2018. Its run last year was cut short abruptly when Phase 2 Heightened Alert restrictions kicked in. An encore run planned for last November didn’t happen as Pam tested positive for COVID a few days before opening night.
In this current run, Pam has something fresh for audiences. “I have a new, fabulous onstage dresser, who’s also a gifted dancer and choreographer. Doesn’t hurt that he’s super handsome too!”
She also hopes that audiences “leave the show with a song in their hearts – to look with hope towards a brighter, more equal future for everyone in Singapore.”
This will be Faghag’s final run; it won’t be brought back, so do catch it before it’s gone!
Faghag runs from 12 May
Show times: Tuesday to Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; Sunday, 2.30pm
Ticket prices: Tuesday to Thursday $30-$60; Friday, Saturday, Sunday $35-$70
Presenting: Straight Acting (R18 rating)
Romantic relationships between people are already challenging for a variety of reasons. What happens when there are four people involved in a romantic relationship that is anything but what’s considered normal?
Straight Acting explores the unexpected situations and struggles that LGBTQ+ couples face in strait-laced Singapore. Especially when starting a family is on the cards.
It introduces us to Olivia and Jaime, two females who want to start a family together, and their gay best friends Russell and Jia Ming. The four pretend to be two happy married heteronormative couples. Then, a string of events following a visit by Jia Ming’s mother leads them to rethink their strategy.
This stage performance is written and directed by Thomas Lim, the award-winning playwright of Grandmother Tongue and Supervision. Straight Acting was a result of meeting and talking to queer couples in Singapore who managed to start their own families.
Thomas says, “It’s a very challenging process because everything in Singapore works against you when you are a queer person trying to have children of your own. I was inspired by the determination they had to start a family of their own; I wanted to write something that captured their strength, courage and love.”
This theatre show in Singapore had a sold-out premiere in 2021. It also received two Straits Times Life Theatre Award nominations for Darren Guo and Deonn Yang in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories respectively.
For those who watched this theatre production last year, Thomas says there’s something to look out for in this second run. “I always learn a lot about the play from the audience in the premiere run of a show. This time around, I’ll be making refinements to the script and staging. The part I’m most excited about is that we’ll be playing to full capacities! It’s not the same when responding and laughing with a socially distanced audience.”
Straight Acting runs from 16 June to 2 July
Show times: Tuesday to Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; Sunday, 2.30pm
Ticket prices: Tuesday to Thursday $25-$50; Friday, Saturday, Sunday $30-$60
Presenting: Don’t Call Him Mr. Mari Kita
Singaporeans know that our national anthem Majulah Singapura begins with “mari kita”, which translates to “let us”. However, ask who composed it and most won’t have a clue.
Although he is widely known as Mr Mari Kita, the late Zubir Said was a prolific composer. In a career that spanned over 40 years, the native of West Sumatra, Indonesia composed close to 1,500 songs.
Don’t Call Him Mr. Mari Kita is a celebration of this great composer through 16 of his songs. They will be performed on the piano by Julian Wong; he happens to be a student of the late Iskandar Ismail, who was a student of Zubir Said.
Originally slated to premiere last year, this Wild Rice theatre show will be performed for the first time to the general public. Ivan says, “This show is such an important exploration and celebration of our musical heritage. I firmly believe it should be seen by everyone in Singapore – young and old, from all walks of life. Everyone should see it and now you finally can. Don’t miss it!”
Julian has included beloved classics like “Semoga Bahagia”, “Sayang Disayang” and “Orang Singapura” for this theatre performance. There are also rare musical gems long thought to have been lost forever. Julian will be accompanied by performers Hannah Nordin, Malcolm Lim and Rohaniah Sa’id on stage.
In preparing for the performance, Julian learned much about Zubir Said: “The mystery of his music seems so daunting yet it’s surprisingly bare. Every Singaporean learns ‘Majulah Singapura’ and ‘Semoga Bahagia’ in school. But how many of us really know what they mean? It always puzzles me that Zubir Said’s music is not known and we don’t really know much about him. I uncovered the story of the effort to silence his music by taking them off the airwaves, only to reclaim him just before he died then honouring him so lavishly after his death. I’ve learned so much about his struggles and sacrifices, and his indomitable spirit.”
Don’t Call Him Mr. Mari Kita runs from 7 to 26 July
Show times: Tuesday to Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; Sunday, 2.30pm
Ticket prices: Tuesday to Thursday $25-$50; Friday, Saturday, Sunday $30-$60
All tickets can be purchased from SISTIC. Discounts apply – Category 1 and 2 tickets at 20% off for Wild Rice Angels, and 10% off for students and senior citizens.
Wild Rice @ Funan
107 North Bridge Road, Level 4
6292 2695 | wildrice.com.sg
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