{"id":25743,"date":"2017-05-01T17:38:38","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T09:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/?p=25743"},"modified":"2021-04-08T18:09:51","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T10:09:51","slug":"see-things-from-a-different-angle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/see-things-from-a-different-angle\/","title":{"rendered":"See Things From A Different Angle!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Drag has been a vital element in the theatre from the very beginning. In ages past, from Ancient Greece and China to Shakespeare\u2019s England, women were barred from performing on stage. As such, men and boys cross-dressed to bring female roles to life on stage. Since then, society and the art of drag have evolved considerably. Gender has become more fluid, and taking on gender-bending roles allows artists and performers to challenge conventions, stereotypes and expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s exactly what several members of the incredibly talented company of La Cage Aux Folles<\/em> do every night. We chat with them \u2013 and director Glen Goei! \u2013 about their drag experiences, on and (occasionally) off stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GLEN GOEI<\/strong> \u2013 as Song Liling in M. Butterfly<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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In M. Butterfly<\/em>, the audience had to genuinely believe that my character was a woman. By performing in drag, you get audiences to suspend their disbelief and take a journey with you \u2013 only to have the illusion shattered by the end of the play. It\u2019s a moment of true theatricality. I haven\u2019t dragged professionally in over 20 years, but I\u2019ll be doing so for Mama White Snake<\/em>, this year\u2019s W!LD RICE pantomime. Pantomimes are all about anarchy, chaos and subverting the norm. And that\u2019s precisely what the Pantomime Dame is \u2013 a sign that anything can happen! I love that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IVAN HENG<\/strong> \u2013 as Emily in Emily of Emerald Hill<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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As an actor, I just love the idea of becoming someone completely unlike myself. In drag, I get to change even my gender! And I get to explore a whole range of emotions that men don\u2019t always get to explore. Men are told not to cry, to bottle up the things they\u2019re feeling \u2013 and women have readier access to some of these emotions. What\u2019s most important to me is to not forget that, beneath the costumes and make-up, our goal is to illuminate the characters we play and find the truth in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IVANA HENG & GLENDA GOEI \u2013 Sister Act!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Ivan<\/em>: I love dragging with Glen \u2013 it\u2019s like having a day out with your sister, playing dress-up! You bring smiles to people\u2019s faces \u2013 they\u2019re giggling and laughing and in on the joke, and it\u2019s so enjoyable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glen<\/em>: Drag performers always take people by surprise, because they don\u2019t expect it. It\u2019s a good ice-breaker, because it makes people laugh. And suddenly they realise \u2013 \u2018Hey, we\u2019re all here to have fun!\u2019 So they loosen up, and don\u2019t take things too seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEAN GHAZI<\/strong> \u2013 as Angel in RENT<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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I think everyone should try drag at some point! You gain access to a whole other set of powers that you don’t have in your original gender \u2013 people look at you differently. When I was playing Angel in RENT<\/em>, even the straight guys in the band would go, \u201cOh my god, Sean, are those your legs?!\u201d It\u2019s a lot of work though. My beard grows quite quickly, so I used to have to do an electric shave over my make-up between shows on a two-show day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HOSSAN LEONG<\/strong> \u2013 as Miriam Leong-Lim at the 2016 W!LD RICE Ball<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Drag pays the bills! I don’t do drag for fun one, you know!!! But I love that my drag personas make people smile and laugh. The attitudes and reactions you get from people when you\u2019re in drag can be very interesting. Because it makes people pay attention, and it makes some people uncomfortable. And you also have some people saying the most inappropriate things. Once, I had a man come up to me and say, \u2018Eh, you so sexy, I want to rape you.\u201d That\u2019s crazy \u2013 you should not say something like that, to a man or<\/em> a woman!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AARON KHALED<\/strong> \u2013 as Angel in RENT<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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The fun thing about dressing up as any character is you get to be someone completely different. That was especially the case for Angel \u2013 to really look the part, I had to change my face, almost, by softening my features and making my chin smaller and sharper. It took an actual village to get me ready for the show!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DARIUS TAN<\/strong> \u2013 as Widow Neo in Jack & The Bean-Sprout!<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Drag is not an easy art form, but I love it. As an actor, it\u2019s the ultimate escapism, because you\u2019re not just playing a role \u2013 you\u2019re playing a character of a different gender. It really tests your limits. It\u2019s especially fun when you transform to play the Dame in a pantomime. You\u2019re the pillar of the show, and you really have to be willing to be ugly on stage. I have no qualms at all about being ugly! It\u2019s wonderful for me. And walking in heels means you end up building beautiful calves!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JO TAN<\/strong> \u2013 as Taylor Jin in Drag Attack!<\/em> (Singapore Theatre Festival 2016)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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I created Taylor Jin, my drag persona, when I did a show with The Necessary Stage and Alvin Tan challenged us to come as characters completely different from ourselves. I remembered seeing my Taiwanese friend in drag once \u2013 she was a beautiful girl with long hair and she became a skinny boy who was handsome in an androgynous way. It confused everybody, and I remember thinking: what incredible power! So I based Taylor on an acquaintance of mine, who\u2019s a misogynist and is full of toxic masculinity. As myself, as a girl, I am always conscious of stepping on other people\u2019s toes. But Taylor feels like he can say and do whatever he wants. I\u2019ve found playing him to be very liberating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The company of La Cage Aux Folles are blurring gender boundaries and stereotypes on stage every day \u2013 and they think you should try it too!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":25746,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[251,247,252],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25743"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}