{"id":29989,"date":"2021-03-20T17:01:54","date_gmt":"2021-03-20T09:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/?p=29989"},"modified":"2021-03-20T17:01:58","modified_gmt":"2021-03-20T09:01:58","slug":"fat-chance-with-miriam-cheong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/fat-chance-with-miriam-cheong\/","title":{"rendered":"Fat Chance with Miriam Cheong"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a nutshell, what is The Other F Word<\/em> About?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s mostly about the complicated feelings towards my body before and after weight loss, as well as the social stereotypes that were thrust upon me as a fat kid and adult. There\u2019s also another small vein about what it means to me to try and take a radical stance in society, but I\u2019ll leave it at that for now because this getting very un-nutshell-like already!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What inspired you to write this play?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always been a fat kid and I\u2019ve always been a fat adult, even after losing weight. Ever since I learnt about the politics of radical body positivity and fat acceptance\/liberation, I knew that I wanted to write a show about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the opportunity first came up in school, my teacher suggested that it was more a topic for a thesis instead. So I wrote my thesis on fat bodies in the theatre. At that point, I was told that I was ready to craft this topic into a show, now that I had gotten the explicitly political voice out into a dissertation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, I was going into a sort of mental slump towards my body after graduation, which frustrated me! I had just written a whole thesis on body-based discrimination! So why was I still being so cruel to my body and flagellating it every time a casting call went dead? And that\u2019s the point when I thought, \u201cOkay, this tension between what I know and what I feel \u2013 that\u2019s where my show lies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has the play evolved since you first came up with the idea?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My show was initially only 20 minutes long! My college had this solo show festival every year and, since I\u2019d received my teacher\u2019s blessing, I wrote and staged what would become the first draft of the show at LASALLE in May 2018, about nine months after I graduated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I then expanded the play for submission to Wild Rice\u2019s Singapore Theatre Festival for its open call in 2018. I added in parts about every Singaporean\u2019s favourite club \u2013 TAF Club! \u2013 because I think that was a formative part of so many of our lives. Also, I hadn\u2019t received my Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome diagnosis yet when I first presented my show, and I added that in too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of dissertations, one of the biggest things that Alfian [Sa\u2019at, Wild Rice\u2019s resident playwright] and Alin [Mosbit, director] suggested during script reads was to put my thesis into the show! It\u2019s almost a character on its own at this point, and you\u2019ll get to see my reactions and relationship with it in the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a tragic way, I feel like material for this show keeps accumulating. I can\u2019t even begin to count how many \u2018circuit-breaker body\u2019 jokes came up last year, and that\u2019s just one example!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Miriam with Aidli \u2018Alin\u2019 Mosbit, her director!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What has surprised you the most while writing The Other F Word<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I did the 20-minute staged version, I didn\u2019t know if it would have the power to really impact anyone. But, a few days later, someone came up to me and said, \u201cThank you for your show. It made me think about the sorts of jokes me and my friends make.\u201d And that surprised and warmed my heart in the most pleasant of ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s the most challenging thing about performing this play?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First of all, who was the idiot who wrote so many words for me to memorise, I\u2019d like to have a word with them\u2026! \ud83e\udd2c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides that, I think it\u2019s balancing being vulnerable without becoming self-indulgent. I share a lot of hurtful and traumatic experiences, and I want to be careful to avoid going inwards into self-pity. As a people-pleaser, I also keep worrying that people out there are not going to like what I have to say. But I also have to tell myself that this is an unpopular discussion! So someone inevitably will not like what I\u2019m saying!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell us about working with Alin and your team for this show! What has that experience been like?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This team has been so, so generous, I\u2019ve really felt the love! James [Tan, lighting designer] and CK [Chia, set designer] have come in to watch so many of my runs. It\u2019s been very touching to have them in the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Alin gives her directorial insight into the script, she really unpacks layers that I didn\u2019t even know were there. She really lights up the room. It\u2019s been very inspiring to work with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jean, my dramaturg, has been so patient with me too. I tend to go on so many rambles and tangents, and she can still generate pertinent discussion from it. I don\u2019t know how she does it, but she deserves a medal!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally, I have to give a shout-out to my stage management team. My show has a lot of small props that get moved around a lot, so big props (see what I did there? I am a true writer now) to them for resetting after every run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You call yourself a fat activist. Can you explain what being a fat activist means to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, fat activism goes beyond the internal work of radical self-love and body acceptance. Which is a valuable thing, don\u2019t get me wrong! But to me, fat activism is more about dismantling the societal structures that have made us believe that fat bodies are less valuable than others. To me, that is a more urgent and holistic issue to address. Yes, we\u2019ve been made to feel ugly and unattractive, but these thoughts didn\u2019t come from nowhere. Society\u2019s hang-ups about fat bodies go far beyond finding them unattractive. Fellow fat activist and comedian Sofie <\/a>Hagen<\/a> put it best for me: \u201cIt\u2019s not about finding fat bodies attractive. It\u2019s about how fatphobia kills people\u2026 It\u2019s systemic. It\u2019s political. None of it will be fixed by fat people learning to love our bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n