{"id":35349,"date":"2013-06-01T12:13:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-01T04:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/?p=35349"},"modified":"2021-06-02T12:20:17","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T04:20:17","slug":"interview-with-alfian-saat-dreamplay-asian-boys-vol-i-and-the-optic-trilogy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/interview-with-alfian-saat-dreamplay-asian-boys-vol-i-and-the-optic-trilogy\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Alfian Sa\u2019at: Dreamplay: Asian Boys Vol. I and The Optic Trilogy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tell us about the two plays that will be revived as part of the upcoming In The Spotlight<\/em> season.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m very excited to see them again because it\u2019s been more than ten years since both plays have been staged in Singapore. Optic Trilogy<\/em> has travelled quite a bit \u2013 it\u2019s been done in Zurich, Stockholm, Berlin… To see it in English again will be kind of a homecoming. It\u2019ll be nice to see it again in Singapore with Ivan directing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m very happy that Ivan is doing the two revivals. We\u2019ve built up a playwright-director relationship over time. These were plays written before I knew him. For him as a director, this was the Alfian he didn\u2019t know before. I\u2019m making it sound like a marriage! He must have read those plays, but to have him work on them is a different thing altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also think they were plays written during a certain period of my life when I was experimenting quite a bit. Not to say I\u2019ve become less experimental, but ever since I\u2019ve been with W!LD RICE, I\u2019ve done plays in a proscenium setting. It\u2019ll be nice to do these black-box plays again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you tell us more about Dreamplay: Asian Boys Vol. I<\/em>?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve completed the trilogy with Vol. III<\/em>, so it\u2019s nice to go back to Vol. I<\/em>. It was written in 2000 and is very much one of my earliest ever queer plays. I think it’s one of the earlier queer plays in Singapore as well. Of course, you have Eleanor Wong\u2019s Mergers and Accusations<\/em>, and Chay Yew\u2019s plays like Language Of Their Own<\/em>, but by and large, I don\u2019t think you had an out-and-out queer play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, it was about negotiating this particular guideline NAC and MDA had regarding not promoting homosexuality onstage. When I wrote it, I asked myself: ‘What\u2019s the antithesis of promoting homosexuality? Condemning it, right?’ So I had a figure who, for me, stood in for the state and some of those firebrand religious dogmatic kind of people \u2013 and I had this person coming down to Singapore as a messianic figure to save gay people. It\u2019s ostensibly about a certain conservative agenda \u2013 rehabilitation, gay reparative therapy \u2013 but because this person is a goddess, you know that it\u2019s so camp. This goddess is also completely clueless about homosexuality. She thinks that gay people are all unhappy; she doesn\u2019t understand why they\u2019re called gay \u2013 \u201c\u2018gay\u2019 means \u2018happy\u2019, why aren\u2019t you happy?\u201d It was definitely this very campy, almost burlesque kind of play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That, for me, was the subversion that might not be evident in the text that we sent to the censors. But then, if they came on the first night, they would have realised that the goddess is completely ridiculous, because she\u2019s wearing a Miss Universe sash. It\u2019s all these campy, coded things that the queer community would get. That, for me, was a nice little game of hide-and-seek I played with the censors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you think audiences today would get out of Dreamplay<\/em>?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I think the audience would still get a certain pleasure out of the nudge and wink and naughty allusions and innuendos in the text. It\u2019s about a language and aesthetic that the queer community has developed for itself and takes a certain pleasure in decoding. The play is about celebrating the kind of doubleness that exists in queer people\u2019s lives \u2013 the idea of the closet, and passing off as straight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can we expect from The Optic Trilogy<\/em>?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It basically looks at relationships between men and women, which I guess came out of my anxiety not to be pigeonholed as a queer writer \u2013 I can write about heterosexuals too! These are potentially romantic, erotic relationships, with a lot of buried secrets and memories and things to do with sight. That’s why it’s called ‘optic’ : it covers ideas such as voyeurism and visibility; basically, it examines how two people look at each other, and what are the limits to looking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know it sounds cerebral, but for me, it\u2019s a very emotionally affecting play. The actors really have to be able to channel the vulnerability required of them in these particular characters. This is more of a character-driven piece \u2013 Asian Boys<\/em> is like an aesthetic romp through queer history in Singapore. It\u2019s got a sense of the carnivale<\/em>. Curry<\/em> is more a documentary about issues \u2013 current, urgent issues. Optic Trilogy<\/em>, meanwhile, is more of a chamber piece, it\u2019s more lyrical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Alfian<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As a playwright, what is it like to revisit your own older works?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a really interesting question. There are points when I recognise that I have outgrown certain obsessions. I go: \u2018Oh god, was I that<\/em> fixated on certain things at that point in time?\u2019 But at the same time, it\u2019s interesting to hear that younger voice and realise that, although I maybe didn\u2019t know so much about structure then, and there was a certain messiness in the things that I was writing, there was also a kind of freedom to it. A certain recklessness, even, in a good way, because that recklessness was about anarchy \u2013 a kind of \u2018I don\u2019t care, I\u2019m going to break the rules\u2019 sentiment. It\u2019s interesting to look back and go ‘Wow, this was written by a young person lah, who was going for broke.’ Some things might not work but you do admire the courage and spirit that went into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s possible to look back now almost as if it were written by someone else. I\u2019m glad that, looking back at the works that Ivan is interested in reviving, I\u2019m not cringing and going, \u2018This is juvenilia, how can you do this to me, Ivan Heng? Don\u2019t embarrass me. You\u2019re taking out my baby photos and showing the world!\u2019 But it\u2019s not like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will you be re-writing any parts of these plays?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

There won\u2019t be an overhaul of the plays, but there are parts that I think I might revise. When we\u2019re talking about rewriting certain pieces, it\u2019s more about connecting to today\u2019s audiences \u2013 more about the topicality of the play. There are things that I might want to tighten. We\u2019re still in conversation about whether to update the plays, whether certain references might be lost to today\u2019s audience. When we\u2019re discussing revivals, we will always have this conversation. I\u2019m of the opinion that, if this is a play set in 2001, then let it be reflective of that particular time. Ivan is more about the zeitgeist and the mood on the ground currently. Can we use this play to take that pulse? We\u2019re going back and forth at the moment, we\u2019re having very fruitful conversations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a scene in Optic<\/em>, for instance, where one of the actors is looking out of the window of the Westin Stamford \u2013 which is now called the Swissotel. She sees that the Esplanade is being constructed, and she says they look like giant bug\u2019s eyes \u2013 there\u2019s something quite quaint about that because it\u2019s been called the Durian for long, you don\u2019t really think of bug\u2019s eyes anymore. The bug-eye thing was quite a remote and maybe 2001 reference. Ivan felt it was an important scene because it was about built heritage \u2013 this mania of building monuments rather than preserving the ones that are not so showy. It\u2019s about the heritage debates at the moment, like the Marina Bay Sands and Gardens By The Bay. These are the conversations we\u2019re having. We haven\u2019t really come to a decision just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a playwright, how much do you put into your writing in terms of stage directions?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t like too many straight stage directions. Mostly because I\u2019ve been working with directors whom I trust a lot to interpret my text, like Ivan and Jo Kukathas in Malaysia. Someone like Edward Albee, for instance, who wrote Who\u2019s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf<\/em> \u2013 before every line, there are brackets indicating the way lines should be delivered… \u2018calmly but sadly\u2019, for instance. It\u2019s very, very specific. I don\u2019t like that so much; I prefer to allow for that margin of interpretation because I sometimes do get surprised by what the director and actors manage to unearth during the rehearsal process. They can excavate subtext. I might have intended the line to be a throwaway line, but suddenly I come for rehearsal, and they\u2019ve loaded it somewhat \u2013 and something is shifting inside the play. I much prefer that. The stage directions for me are like music notations \u2013 you can really fix it down, but I like to give them the melody, and leave the arrangement completely up to them. Jazz it up a bit!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happens when you turn up and there\u2019s a bad surprise?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

‘I didn\u2019t ask for the erhu<\/em>! Where did the erhu<\/em> come from?’ [laughs] That\u2019s why I say I always have to work with directors I trust. Ivan always brings me in for a first reading with the cast, so I\u2019ll get a sense if we\u2019re on the same page. If someone completely deviates, I\u2019ll give certain notes. I\u2019m included in the process all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you come to work with W!LD RICE?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I started out with The Necessary Stage and did a few plays outside \u2013 Optic Trilogy<\/em> was with Action Theatre as part of a festival. In 2004, I had this play called Asian Boys Vol. II<\/em>, and I passed it to Ivan and asked if he\u2019d be interested. He said he would love to do it, and before I knew it, I had joined the company as resident playwright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, I\u2019ve been given the opportunity to move out of the black box, and I have to say I did that with some trepidation as I never felt it was my natural habitat. So it\u2019s great to work with a director who knows how to use that larger space and resolve problems of intimacy. Ivan was that director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do Cook A Pot Of Curry<\/em> with Glen is quite special. I\u2019ve seen a lot of Glen\u2019s stuff over the years for W!LD RICE, and we\u2019re colleagues and friends. But I\u2019ve never had the opportunity to work with him at all. So this is going to be quite special.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alfian tells us about what it’s like to be young and reckless as we stage revivals of his earliest works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":35350,"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":[129,482,196,479,481,480,483,135,478],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35349"}],"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=35349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}