Review: Three Inches of Alive, and Serunding

Three Inches of Alive was the winning play of the 24-hour Playwriting Competition 2014 organised by TheatreWorks' Writing & Community Programme.  Written by Clarilyn Khoo, the play was about an archivist who did research on a deceased lady Leila who was considered a pioneer of Malaya.  The playwright presented it in a form of conversation between the dead and the living.  Interesting idea, but not much variation in the delivery of dialogue.

Director Irfan Kasban moved the production at a good pace and Gyan Lee and Siti Zuraida gave competent performance as the archivist and the Leila respectively.  The set design by Gerald Leow was realistic and beautiful.

With some re-writes, Three Inches of Alive could be restaged again for a wider audience.

In June last year, I had the opportunity to catch Serunding written by Ahmad Musta'ain Bin Khamis, another winning play of the 24-hour Playwriting Competition in 2010.

Aidli Mosbit was excellent as Safiah, a Malay homemaker and a devout Muslim.  Safiah was a typical mother, with a lot of expectations on her children and at the same time tried to get along with her mother in law.   Of course, things did not go well as planned, in particular her relationship with her daughter.

Set in the living room, we watched Safiah go through the daily routine while relating her story to us.  Reminded me of Emily of Emerald Hill, in a good way.

At the audience feedback session, some audience felt that the play could be extended to an hour or so.  The playwright replied that he was focusing on other projects and unlikely to rework on this script.  A pity, as I felt that this play has potential to be a good Singaporean work.  Nonetheless, a good play, a good production and good initiative by TheatreWorks in organising the playwriting competition.