Fridae

Winner of the London Fringe Award in 1992 for 'Best Production', Porcelain was playwright Chay Yew's startling debut that attempts to bridge the gap between men who publicly claim they are straight and the gay men who know better. Staged throughout the world to furious critical acclaim, Porcelain will make its much-anticipated debut in Singapore theatres in April.

An Asian immigrant into the UK, 19-year-old John Lee is an outsider in the clubs of happy handsome gay men. Intelligent, with a promising future at Cambridge, he is unable to deal with being jilted by a man he met while cruising in the toilets. As the play opens, John stands accused of brutally slaying his lover. The scene of the crime - a restroom known for gay sex where the passion first ignited�

Yew's Porcelain is a story of extremes: love and hate, want and need, life and death, bigotry, loneliness, violence, homophobia and the dark side of an all-consuming passion.

The critically acclaimed Singaporean-born and Los Angeles based playwright Yew is not new to controversy. The censorship board in Singapore had initially banned his first play in 1989 because the gay character acted realistically "too sympathetic and too straight-looking."

When Yew wrote /Porcelain as his graduate thesis movie script at Boston University, no one on campus wanted to audition for the project because of its gay theme. Eventually, after spending all his money "clubbing and partying," Porcelain resurfaced when Yew wrote and re-adapted it for five chairs during his post as resident playwright at a London-based Asian theatre company. Needless to say, it was a hit and the play was bestowed the prestigious London Fringe Award for Best Play. His other plays include A Language Of Their Own, Red, A Beautiful Country and Wonderland. His other adaptations include Wei Jingsheng's The Courage to Stand Alone.

Yew is currently the director at the Asian Theatre Workshop at the Taper in Los Angeles, Resident Director at East West Players in Los Angeles and Artistic Director of Northwest Asian American Theatre in Seattle, Yew is also a member of the New Dramatists.

Porcelain makes its long-anticipated debut in Singapore under the helm of the award-winning directorial duo, Goh Boon Teck and Beatrice Chia, and starring LIFE! Theatre Awards Best Actor nominees, Nelson Chia and Mark Richmond. A powerhouse creative team consists of Music Composer Darren Ng, Lighting Designer Mac Chan, Set Designer Nicholas Li and Costume designer Anthony Tan.

THE STORY
John Lee, a young Chinese man who frequents a public toilet in London's Bethnal Green, ignores the unwritten rule that gay men shouldn't fall in love with straight men. After a chance sexual encounter with one William Hope in the lavatory, John finds himself hopelessly smitten with Will, an anxious, white "straight" guy who insists that he isn't one of that kind. After all, he claims indignantly, "A mouth is a mouth."

It appears that the two men are no strangers to cottaging, and eventually establish a kind of pseudo-relationship, where John willingly gives and Will greedily takes. When Will decides to abruptly end his casual escapades, the vulnerable, self-loathing John fires six shots into his part-time lover, killing him in what is later referenced as a "crime of passion. "The two men are found at the very origin of their union, "one dead, and the other living with a gun by his side."

Following a whirlwind of media sensation and public reproach, it is then up to slick-tongued psychologist Dr Worthing to determine whether or not John was sane at the time of the murder. Using stock Rorschach ink blot tests to determine John's psychological health while unwittingly exposing his own prejudice and homophobia on air to Channel Four, Worthing must pull a few tricks out of his bag to convince John to trust him and reveal his side of the story. Through incredibly honest acting and the bold, impassioned language of Yew, Porcelain is a delicate work of fine art.

Chay Yew's PORCELAIN R(A)
Presented by Toy Factory Theatre Ensemble in collaboration with Esplanade Theatres on the Bay
Date/Time: 7-10, 12-17 April 2005/ 8pm
Matinee Shows on 9, 10, 16, & 17 at 3pm
Venue: Esplanade Theatre studio
Ticket Price: $32 *Free Seating
Concession / NS men / Senior Citizen: $26
Excludes $2 Sistic charge

Tickets for Porcelain are available from Feb 24 at all SISTIC outlets.
Booking Hotline: 6348 5555
Online Booking: www.sistic.com.sg