S’pore Fringe Fest 2015: Mosaic’s pieces fit just right
This used to be their playground. Sort of. Take Off Productions' Mosaic at the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. Photo: Crispian Chan.
SINGAPORE — I’ve just watched the fringiest of the fringe at this year’s festival — a proper talky play.
No seriously, the entertaining and often hilarious Mosaic was a welcome breather from the not-plays I’ve caught. Presented by Take Off Productions and directed by Chen Yingxuan, this restaging of this Joel Tan piece from Lit Up 2013 takes place in an old school `80s mosaic playground in Ang Mo Kio. It’s set to be taken down to give way to a car park so an overnight protest (aka “passive aggressive resistance”) is underway. Except that no one really turns up, leaving bossy wannabe activist Sharon (Julie Wee) rather frustrated, and her boyfriend Hanis (Erwin Shah Ismail) pissed. He’d rather be watching Sharon’s hottie rocker-chick friend Wong (Yap Yikai) perform. Instead, straight-laced maths teacher and bus spotter named Rong Cheng (John Cheah) wanders in and joins what’s turning out to be an embarrassing non-event.
As night progresses and the protest slowly fizzles, personal relationships play out. Turns out, Rong Cheng knows Sharon from before, but she doesn’t remember him at all. Wong and Hanis seem to have this thing going. And, the original bickering couple, well, they’ve got baggage.
I’m not certain what Tan thinks of the idea of being the voice of a generation, but in Mosaic, he really does seem to have a knack for evoking very convincingly this whole 20-something, children of the `90s vibe. By feeding us oh-so-casually with clear and distinct signposts — the “Singaporean” style of small talk by way of one’s school connections, pop references then (James Lye, Billy Bombers) and lived experiences now (social media) — there’s a real, specific sense of time and place.
But at the same time, he’s not a chronicler but a creative writer. Even as the four characters seem uncannily familiar, they’re as distinct and memorable as larger-than-life characters come. I mean, a maths teacher who’s obsessed with buses?
Nothing much happens, really, just a lot of talking. But hey, nothing much happens in, say, Dazed And Confused. But the dialogue is filled with gems, often capturing the irrational, the awkward, the silly, and the unsaid. It’s fun listening to these people talk yak. And all four actors inhabit their roles vividly. What fuels the play’s arc through time are the almost symmetrically laid out interactions among the four. (And I’ve to say, I was completely charmed and drawn to Yap’s wildcard Wong and fascinated by Cheah’s Rong Cheng, while Erwin and Wee pulled off couple dynamics pretty well.)
The “loudness” of the performances is balanced out by the subtlety of everything else: Aaron Yap’s minimalist mosaic playground-inspired set, Ryann Othniel Seng’s faint incidental traffic sound design hovers, Petrina Dawn Tan’s lighting flutters. The complete lack of props also perfectly underscores the make-believe, playful nature of it all — they are, after all, in a playground.
This play’s an affirmation of Tan’s talents but my ultimate shout out has to be to its young director Chen. You do feel Mosaic as a whole and I’m very sure it’s to her credit, teasing out the little nuances in the script, getting the best out of her actors.
Nostalgia’s a big thing these past couple of years, and now heightened by the whole SG50 celebrations. Mosaic indirectly adds to this conversation. In Sharon, you have a rather clueless activist with big, abstract ideas who engages with the soon-to-be-torn-down playground on a purely symbolic level, one who can’t even “sit down and enjoy the playground (she’s) trying to save”. In Rong Cheng, you have someone with a deep, personal connection to the space, but is likewise acknowledges the transience of things. Both have their merits, both have their flaws. Step back, view both sides, and ponder on the whole picture.
Mosaic runs until Jan 24 but it’s sold out. For more information on the festival, visit http://www.singaporefringe.com/
