{"id":4572,"date":"2017-10-26T02:34:03","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T18:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wr\/why-be-normal-when-you-can-be-special\/"},"modified":"2019-12-09T15:36:40","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T07:36:40","slug":"why-be-normal-when-you-can-be-special","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/why-be-normal-when-you-can-be-special\/","title":{"rendered":"Why be Normal when you can be Special?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What inspired you to adapt the legend of Madam White Snake<\/em> for the Singapore stage?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I’d always been intrigued by the legend, which \u2013 on the surface \u2013 is that of forbidden love between a female snake spirit and a male human being. I think there are many ways of looking at a story like this, ranging from examining a culture\u2019s anxieties about the \u2018mysterious\u2019 power that women wield, to reflecting on how trouble ensues when humans, with their finite knowledge, enact rules that they think are backed by a divine will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what I found most inspiring about the story is how it has evolved over time. In the beginning, the White Snake was a villainous character, while the monk was seen as a saviour. Eventually, however, the White Snake came to be commended for her selflessness, while the monk has been criticised for his rigidity. I think these are the kinds of stories that excite me: where the reader is shown the human in the monster and the monster in the human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does Mama White Snake<\/em> differ from the original story?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The original is a beloved folktale, so it was a challenge to try to stay true to telling that story while, at the same time, introducing new elements. I wanted to shift the perspective away from that of Madam White Snake and her sister, Green Snake, such that it is told from the viewpoint of Meng, a young person, for whom the world of the snake spirits is one of surprise and wonder. Also, while the original story focused more on romantic love, I wanted Mama White Snake<\/em> to focus more on maternal love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are some of the key themes raised in Mama White Snake<\/em>?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One of the questions that Meng asks in the show is: \u2018Why be normal when you can be special?\u2019 And I think the play is, in many ways, a celebration of unconventionality. Meng has grown up in, technically, a single-parent household, raised by a very hardworking, widowed mother and her sister. But these women are not just efficient domestic administrators, but also fighters, in a very literal sense. And I think the script pays tribute to the strength and spirit of all women who’ve had to fight hard \u2013 against uncaring policies or social stigmas \u2013 to raise their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mama White Snake<\/em> plays at the Drama Centre Theatre from 24 November to 16 December 2017! Get your tickets at SISTIC<\/a> today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Playwright Alfian Sa\u2019at is asking the big questions in Mama White Snake, his fifth pantomime for W!LD RICE following the award-winning Monkey Goes West! Get a preview of W!LD RICE\u2019s upcoming musical extravaganza here!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4571,"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":"","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":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","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":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4572"}],"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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}