[Side note: I watched this play with a friend. And we were reminiscing all the times we have gone to a theatre show together. And I actually forgot the name - and venue - of the first show we watched. It made me recall why I started doing these "reviews" in the first place. I knew my memory was bad, and at a younger age, it was so expensive to go watch the theatre! I want to remember what I paid money for, what I liked and the questions that the performances left me with. This space is firstly a personal record for myself. And secondarily, maybe an informal record of the transient performance that passed.]
The play imagined an alternate National Day from the usual curated parade and glamour we see on our TV screens. Within the Ngee Ann Kongsi theatre, a contingent for the LGBT community, migrant workers and activists was held. We saw the cast taking turns to play Red Dot Singapore getting confronted with lesser known, banned films of Singapore like, 1987: Untracing the Conspiracy and To Singapore, With Love and teased for being so nonchalantly clearing cultural, historical, valuable landmarks like a Marie Kondo clean up.
While challenges to Singapore were tongue-in-cheek and brought laughter from the audience, the production also (literally) brought to light how Singapore's hidden struggles did not just exist on the stage. The play featured 4 feature films about lesser known Singaporeans: Drag queen Kak Nina Boo; The Projector's General Manager, Prashant Somosundram; Activist Kirsten Han; and a lesbian couple, Cally and Ching Chia, raising a child in Singapore. However, the clips of Kirsten Han and the couple were not projected onto stage as they were not cleared in time by the censors. Instead, the house lights came on and audiences were given time to scan the QR codes on their seats to watch these "un-approved" videos on their own phones. The script played the audience in more subtle methods too, sandwiching confrontation and tender moments between rapturous laughter. An unforgettable moment being the jump from likening our relationship to Malaysia as seeing an ex on a dating app to being confronted about Singapore's relationship with Israel at present day.
The performance was interspersed with audience interaction elements. It brought the joy of National Day but also gave us a chance to be a part of it. Together, audience members settled sensitive questions like which side of Singapore is best, became a President inspecting the March Pass and even, contributed ideas to have our own National Day Song for the evening (by cast, Andrew Marko). I found myself and the audience singing along to the familiar, National Day tunes and realised there was no denying that we are a part of Singapore for knowing these state-commissioned songs. This participatory device playfully intervened the status quo where Singaporeans rarely have a say of how our National Day Parades are like and provided us a space to co-create one with the creative team.
I will remember National Day Charades fondly as a performance that brought to life a different National Day Parade. It acknowledges that there is One Story shown every year and created a playful space for fellow Singaporeans to draft out how a more "complete" Singapore - warts and all - would look like on display without the glitz and the glamour, to allow for The Padang to just be a padang. I wonder how Singapore would be if we had such a platform every year, would there be new challenges and what hurdles we would have overcome as a nation, year after year?