Fridae

"Ultimately, all the eight plays address a singular theme: the freedom that dares not speak its name, in other words, the freedom to choose who we want to love." - Alfian Sa'at in an article from E! Culture Magazine.

Written by Alfian Sa'at and directed by Ivan Heng, the aptly titled Landmarks: Asian Boys Vol. 2 features a collection of eight gay-themed playlets which mark and map out the topographies of homosexual desires in straight Singapore.

Against the backdrop of well-known Singaporean homosexual haunts ranging from Fort Road to Raffles City to Delta Swimming Pool and through the depiction of all-too-familiar scenes (including post-clubbing cruising at Maxwell, feverish preparations for a "Nation"-wide gay party (wink wink) and steamy encounters at a gay sauna, etc), Landmarks uses specific physical locales, events and scenes as signposts to recreate the Singaporean gay experience.

Within the confines of these prescribed and demarcated "spaces," each playlet then lays bare the psycho-geography of the gay (and at times straight) characters who frequent or inhabit these iconic gay "landmarks" and explores different facets of (homo)sexual relationships: between parent and child in "Katong Fugue," sugar daddy and trophy boy in "Raffles City Rendezvous," gay men and straight best friend in "Downstream, Delta," gay man and straight woman in "The Widow of Fort Road," etc.

Despite obscure and impenetrable poetic musings on egg-laying turtles, a beached whale and shifting shorelines in the opening "Katong Fugue" (which left many an audience member bewildered), the remaining playlets from the talented Alfian Sa'at make for a highly entertaining and thought-provoking theatre experience by showcasing topics close to the hearts of the local gay population such as police entrapment ("The Widow of Fort Road"), anti-gay legislation ("California Dreaming"), the fear of ageing ("The Kings of Ann Siang Hill"), unrequited love ("Supper At Maxwell" and "Downstream, Delta") and the impact of the Internet ("Raffles City Rendezvous" and "The Widow of Fort Road").

Under the tight direction of Ivan Heng, most of the cast were a joy to watch as the playlets shift from camp comedy to heartfelt confessions, from bitchfests to moving elegy. Particularly worthy of praise were Chua Enlai as a lust-and-love blind club kid ("Supper At Maxwell"), Robin Goh and Brendon Fernandez as the gay and straight best friend combo ("Downstream, Delta"), Harris Zaidi as a helium-heeled airhead ("California Dreaming") and the excellent Serene Chan as a straight woman nursing a crush on her gay colleague ("The Widow of Fort Road").

---

Particularly pleasing to the eye were Pierre Goh ("Supper At Maxwell"), the scantily-towel-clad Ben Xiao ("The Kings of Ann Siang Hill"), blonde rent boy Alex Ng ("My Own Private Toa Payoh") and former Fridae scribe Phin Wong (okay, I'm biased) as a Japanese boy band worthy trophy boy in "Raffles City Rendezvous."

Against such excellent performances, the relative inexperience of other cast members showed up rather starkly: Tan Shou Chen (despite being my personal favourite piece of eye-and-ear candy) appeared a tad constipated as the tormented Son in "Katong Fugue;" Bonni Sta Maria's turn as Muscle Mary Leon in "California Dreaming" lacked bite despite all his outward trappings (note: boa-feathers and a tiara do not a true diva make); Alex Ng over-played his role as sentimental bottom Meng in "My Own Private Toa Payoh" by rehashing every OTT technique from Taiwanese weepie serials; and finally, Loong Seng Onn put in a somnambulistic turn by sleep-walking through his role as Kelvin in a dream sequence (how's that for dramatic irony?) for "The Widow of Fort Road."

Having said that, the at times uneven performances do not detract from the fact that Landmarks: Asian Boys Vol. 2 is an engaging and ambitious project. By locating and connecting the exploration of the inner lives of gay men with specific homosexual "landmarks," the play boldly attempts to establish "markers" and to delineate and define the elusive Singaporean gay identity.

At the same time, despite the acknowledged opening up of the Singapore gay scene highlighted throughout the performance, the play appears to recognise the inherent difficulty of mapping out a homosexual territory to which we can proudly claim as our own - especially in a country where homosexuals remain "socially" closeted and where gay sex is a crime.

And as the cast deconstructs the performance space at the end of the play, Landmarks ultimately destabilises the audience's preconceived idea(s) and belief(s) regarding the Singaporean gay condition by suggesting that, in the final analysis, there may not be any "roots" to a Singaporean gay identity but rather "routes" to such an identity which have to be undertaken by the gay Singapore man before we can rightfully claim to have arrived.

Truly a landmark in local gay theatre.

LANDMARKS - Asian Boys Vol 2
Written by Alfian Sa'at
Directed by Ivan Heng
Starring: Alex Ng, Ben Xiao, Bill Ang, Bonni Sta Maria, Brendon Fernandez, Chua Enlai, Harris Zaidi, Loong Seng Onn, Micheas Chan, Nora Samosir, Phin Wong, Pierre Goh, Robin Goh, Sebastian Tan, Serene Chen, Tan Shou Chen, Tony Quek
Date: 4 - 15 February 2003
Time: 8.00pm
Venue: The Esplanade, Theatre Studio
Tickets: Tickets are sold out.