David The Best 2.0 Kucing Kuraps FTW
Drama Box, The Joyden Hall @ Bugis+/Thursday
Overheard near the three-hour mark at this production: “Oh my God, it’s not over yet.” A wildly ambitious piece of community theatre, David The Best tries to explore identity and how its different layers – national, racial and personal – overlap.
Sadly, its execution falls short. What we get is a sprawling, scattered talk show that is crying out to be edited. It is as unwieldy as its title, which references the underdog (David vs Goliath), Internet slang (FTW) and throws in the Malay phrase for “small fry” for good measure. This is the second edition of a well-received play radio DJ Huang Wenhong did in 2008 called David The Best!.
David 2.0 has a loose talk-show format. Guests, from MediaCorp actor Chew Chor Meng to regular folks who responded to an audition call on Huang’s radio show, share their stories on stage. Huang serves as host and also slips in and out of different voices and characters in observational pieces which pad out the show. He co-created the show with Drama Box’s Kok Heng Leun, who directed and wrote the script.
One theme that crops up in the show is this: We all have our stories, and by sharing our stories, we become a stronger and more tolerant community. Alfian Sa’at’s 2011 play, Cooling Off Day, about how people voted in the General Election, had conveyed the same message in far more compelling fashion – and without spelling it out.
The idea is a worthy one, but while I admire the courage of the regular folks who came forward to share their tales, it is theatre’s job to give some shape and form to the stories rather than letting them run on. For example, a mother’s convoluted story about a disciplinary incident involving her son at school did not have enough of a pay-off.
In addition to Chew, the production also featured guest appearances by Taiwanese getai performer Hao Hao and theatre actress Aidli Mosbit. A slightly different roster of guests will appear at each performance. The show’s run is till Oct 20.
On opening night on Thursday, Chew talked about his abusive father and his journey as an actor and his struggle with spinal muscular atrophy, while Hao Hao shared the hurdles he has faced as a cross-dressing performer. Some of it was amusing. Some, touching and moving. But one wonders if this was the right venue for these confessionals.
Sure, Hao Hao makes a point about multiple identities and how they shift, depending on context. But it takes him some time to get to it. Meanwhile, he hijacked the evening to flaunt his flirty, sassy getai persona (above).
Huang bantered quite a bit with Aidli, asking the audience to freely ask her about Malays and Muslims. Mostly, he offered up broad stereotypesfor her to swat away easily. The exchange was done in the spirit of fostering greater understanding and it helped that Aidli had some zinging comebacks.
When Huang riffs on about aspects of Singapore life, the delivery is genial, but the writing is not tight or sharp enough. It is a charge that could be levelled against the production as a whole. Adding FTW – Net lingo for “for the win” – to a title does not automatically make a show awesome.
(ST)