At Fairfax Studio October 29 to November 2, 2002
Reviewer:
Kate Herbert
It is not
the play so much as the performance by Ivan Heng that makes Emily of Emerald Hill an
extraordinary theatrical experience.
Heng plays
Emily, a Chinese Singapori woman born early last century who marries into a
wealthy Anglophile family.
He may play
a woman but there is no parody or predictable drag acting in Heng. His
transformation into a believable woman, in the tradition of the Wayang
Peranakan theatre, is total.
Every
gesture is accurate and economical. The detail of his portrayal is phenomenal
and his timing is impeccable.
Heng shifts
effortlessly between Emily as innocent girl, young wife discovering her power and
middle-aged harridan manipulating her
family.
There is joy
and finesse in Heng's performance. He represents Emily warts and all as the
loving, controlling and demanding mother.
Emily slips
through time in this episodic play by Stella Kon. Scenes are not chronological although, by the
end, she is an old woman still fantasising about her dead son, Richard.
Kon's script
is colourful and smartly written. It captures an entire cultural group that is
unfamiliar to us.
What it
needs is a rigorous edit. At over two hours it is unwieldy. Heng makes it work
with his magical touch.
The pace of
the script is a little slow. Heng and director Krishen Jit keep the rhythm snappy and find some range of
pace in it.
There is
little dramatic tension as we know all Emily's losses quite early. However,
Heng makes us weep with his sensitive rendering of Emily's traumatic moments.
One
delightful element is Heng's mercilessly playing to the audience. He makes us
his quilt-making students, guests at a birthday party. He even follows us into the foyer to treat us
as a market crowd.
The imposing
design by Raja Malik comprises simple
white screens with appliqued geometric designs. It is lit with vivid and
wonderful colour by Mac Chan.
Heng's virtuosity
is evident as Emily playing her male and female relatives. She is acerbic,
competitive, unscrupulous and betrayed.
In spite of
her flaws, we love Emily and weep with her over her grief and laugh with her
over her quilt making..
By Kate
Herbert
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