Pangdemonium Presents: Chinglish

Source: http://pangdemonium.com/productions/chinglish

跟他說你們美國人真坦率，我喜歡！

Minister said he like you Americans! Very Rude!

Lost in Translation. Don't cha just love it?

The trailer appeared right in front of me when I was randomly youtubing in my free time. It caught my eye immediately and thought this really could be my second experience catching a play. 

My First Theatrical Play - Fear of Writing

Ever since the compulsory play we were told to watch, Fear of Writing, during my TS1101, I felt like I was trapped inside the real time emotion played right out by the stage actors. Everything is done by one take. No NG, no mistakes. Other than the conventional stage play, Fear of Writing was a creative playout as it made use of the audience, and made them part of the play! It was mindblown and was a huge step for me to immerse into the great world of performing arts. 

Chinglish - A Brief Introduction

This second play is a normal stage play. The part that attracted me the most is none other than the funny translations! Many bilingual netizens should have known about the funny English-translated signs in China that made many of them laugh their heads off. This story writer was using this as a inspiration to write a story about the forbidden love of an American businessman and a Chinese Vice-Minister. In the midst of romance, sex and even sadness, this play will never fail to break that atmosphere with one or two lost in translation joke! 

Drama Centre - Holding Area

As we reached the holding area, there are so many stand up signs of the actors and actresses and a huge poster for people to take photos. I did not expect there will be sooooo many people. Nevertheless, it was nice to see so many people would come and watch the show. And THEY ENTERED IN AN ORDERLY FASHION without much queue control. 

Actually, I did not read the synopsis before watching the play. I wanted to challenge myself to get tte gist of the story without much aid. Phew, luckily the story was not too cheem. Haha.

PEOPLE WERE ALSO ALL PUNCTUAL (well, except two people), PROPERLY SEATED,  AND NO PHONE INTERRUPTION AT ALL THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE SHOW.

Stage Settings and Transitions

The show started with the funny girl (Audrey, starred in the trailer) stepping out to remind us about not to use handphone in a very simple YET extremely funny way.

The stage setting was also very simple, rotatable yet modern looking. The change of settings was just a simple rotating action without much help from the stage crew people to carry or bring the props in and out. Most actions were all done backstage. All the transitions were smooth and tight, but the music used during the transitions were from songs by Jay Chou and Cyndi Wang, some of which were kinda inappropriate to the theme, and left us a bit perplexed. 

Story and Script

The story depicts how two languages clashed and sparked off many hilarious lost in translation jokes. On an intercultural level, it portrayed some hiccups when people from two totally different backgrounds worked together. It could also be in a situation where you totally mistook the message and almost about the made a serious error in your life. 

It was comical and yet serious. 

It was daring and yet cowardly. 

It was modern and yet oriental.   

I shall not reveal too much. But most theatrical plays like to leave people thinking about the world. Your life. The subtext. The truth. 

This play does it too. The struggle of the power between two nations. But not too cheem like Fear of Writing. 

The script was also well thought of with many quirks and classical dialogues. You can feel how intense the script was when two people: American and Chinese, without an interpreter, had to speak with all their might just to get each other to understand a small concept. 

Actor and Actresses

The acting crew was amazing. No flaws. No tongue tied. The expressions and emotions - Simply awesome. Or probably that is just the fundamental thing each of the acting crew must have. I know nothing more about them since I still not familiar with this industry yet (except for Guo Liang and Adrian Pang). But probably Adrian Pang And Oon Shu An still need to work a bit more to pull off the China Chinese Accent. They should learn from Chua Enlai and Alaric Tay!! Thumbs up for Matt Grey pulling off great Chinese even though he is not a Chinese speaker!!!

Overall

Thanks for reading this piece of junk!!! Haha. Of course my way of writing is still not comparable to those any kind of standard written reviews. But in the end, it is just a way for me to remember such an excellent piece of performance by Singapore. I really want to support Singapore production. As much as I could.

This play was actually done in Broadway in 2011, by David Henry Hwang. Now this was brought in by Adrian Pang to show you how Broadway could be done better here in Singapore! The last day was actually on the day I typed this blog. Did not regret buying ticket to watch this excellent piece. And really. This is a play Singaporeans must watch. Because all the 洋鬼子 and Cheenas confirm cannot understand the translation joke at all!! Haha.


Other notable reviews:
http://www.todayonline.com/entertainment/arts/no-language-barrier
http://whatsnext.sg/singlish-or-chinglish/
http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/quick-sketch-of-cultural-misunderstanding-or-realistic-portrait-chinglish-cant-decide

Chinglish, it will kick your ass!

Chinglish, 會踢你屁股!