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SINGAPORE: It's a classic tale of beast meets beauty and Singapore theatre company Wild Rice, the people behind popular pantomimes "Cinderel-LAH!", "Oi! Sleeping Beauty" and "Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs", has given it a stamp of made-in-Singapore humour.
So expect lots of slapstick for the kids but also some sassy innuendoes for the adults in the festive pantomime "Beauty and the Beast".
According to director Hossan Leong, "Beauty and The Beast" is based on the Walt Disney version of the tale but presented with a very Singaporean twist.
"We kind of localised it, to make it relevant to Singaporeans and people who live in Singapore with current, perhaps sometimes political, perhaps sometimes situations that have happened in Singapore," said Leong.
The play tells the story of Beauty, played by veteran actress Emma Yong, who is forced to live with The Beast (RJ Rosales) to secure her father's release, after he was imprisoned by The Beast for stealing a rose from his garden.
While the plot may sound almost identical to the Disney version, Leong assures audiences that it will be a brand new experience.
"We kept the spine of it, but everything else... brand new, songs, brand new choreography, beautiful costumes and different characters," explained Leong.
Even the set is unique. According to the director, the entire set is specially designed to look like pages from a children's pop-up book, to draw audiences into the world of "Beauty and The Beast".
Yong, who plays Beauty, adds that unlike the Disney movie, audiences will have the chance to interact with the cast during the pantomime.
"They are very interactive, the pantos (pantomimes). We encourage talk back so it's a lot of fun," Yong said.
She recounted that the audience at earlier performances of the pantomime were very enthusiastic when she interacted with them.
"It would be like 'Where was the bad guy?'" and they are like 'Behind you! Behind you!'," she said animatedly.
"Beauty and The Beast" runs through till December 19 at the Drama Centre Theatre at the National Library Building. Tickets are available via Sistic.
- CNA/ha
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