When it comes
to love stories, the simplest plots are the best.
Tom is a restaurant owner who falls in love with his waitress Kyra.
They have an illicit affair, right under the nose of Tom's wife - Kyra
becomes a housekeeper/companion of the family, and actually lives with
them. But the wife finds out and Kyra runs away. Soon after, Tom's wife
dies of cancer and, unable to endure the loneliness, Tom decides to
look for Kyra.
The play begins the night Tom finds Kyra. Interestingly it is Edward,
Tom's 18-year-old son, who first appears at the door (Edward ends the
play as well). Not quite schooled in social graces, Edward arrives at
Kyra's apartment bearing a sixpack of beer as a gift. His aim is to
tell Kyra of how his father has fallen apart since his mother's death.
Tom arrives moments after Edward leaves, and apparently knows nothing
of Edward's visit. But, like his son, he comes bearing gifts - whisky,
instead of beer. Tom and Kyra enter into a richly textured dialogue
in which all the events of their past affair are revealed.
The beauty of David Hare's script is in the layering. Tom and Kyra
have two completely different views of the world and their perspectives
colour their views of each other and of their relationship. Moments
of physical attraction between the two lovers struggle against the moments
of disgust each feels at the obnoxiousness of the other's views.
There are many examples of this. Kyra is appalled that Tom sees nothing
wrong in leaving his chauffeur Frank out in the cold waiting for him.
For Tom, "Frank isn't people; Frank is a man doing a job." Kyra, in
contrast, lights up when she talks about her early morning journeys
on the bus among real people to get to the suburban school where she
now teaches. Tom can't understand why Kyra endures living in an apartment
with such poor heating. But for Kyra there is nothing wrong with the
apartment because "it's how people live". It is this polemic that widens
the scope of the sharp, witty repartee between the two lovers into a
story of much greater breadth and depth.
But the characters of Tom and Kyra are far too complex and nuanced
to be neatly pigeonholed as the "capitalist conservative" or the "socialist
rebel". Tom laments Kyra's crude characterisation of him as one of the
self-pitying "right wing fuckers". For her, he believes, "people are
symbols" and "disqualified from having feelings." Tom tries to portray
Kyra as being from a social status no different to his - she was the
daughter of wealthy parents and she graduated first in her class. He
attacks her insistence on running away from reality, clearly shown in
his eyes by the way she refuses to watch the news, or read the papers.
He cruelly declares that the only reason she takes the bus is because
she can get off in three minutes - she loves "the people" because she
doesn't have to commit. Kyra attacks Tom's hypocrisy by showing that
Tom deliberately left her love letters in the kitchen for his wife to
discover - in the end, it was he that failed to commit to their secret.
By the end of this we are left with two wounded lovers, whose personal
differences are so great they are unable to reconcile in spite of the
strength of their yearning for each other. There is more than a hint
of tragedy in Tom's quiet departure, and Kyra's attempt to restore some
order to her living room after he leaves.
Janice Koh did a beautiful job as Kyra. She made the character very
real and very likeable, and showed great subtlety, range and control.
Lim Kay Tong cut a dashing presence on stage, but fell shy of achieving
both the playful heights of Tom's magnificent conceit and the depths
of his insecurities. The chemistry between the two was palpable, but
a little lukewarm, and there seemed to be room in the script for something
more. Daniel Hutchinson was a natural as Edward, with an endearing and
disarming smile, but he lacked the practised body language of the more
experienced actors.
Set designer Samatha Scott Blackhall and director Mark Waite get perfect
scores for staging. The play seemed custom-made for the Play Den. The
audience was allowed to invade Kyra's apartment from all sides, and
this created a strong sense of intimacy. The apartment was decorated
with a wonderful attention to detail, and the sensible use of lighting
to mirror moments of tension and warmth did not go unnoticed.
In the final scene, hope filters in through the skylight. It is morning
and Edward appears bearing a huge, hearty breakfast - something Kyra
had said the night before that she missed more than anything else. Clearly
Edward has paid more attention than his father. It is not a happy ending,
but a reassuring one. Reassuring in its reminder of the potential of
youth as the idealists among us recharge to face another blistering
cold day.
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"The play seemed custom-made for the Play Den. The audience was
allowed to invade Kyra's apartment from all sides, and this created
a strong sense of intimacy"
Credits
Director: Mark Waite
Lighting Designer: Yo Shao Ann
Set Designer: Samantha Scott Blackhall
Asst. Set Designer: Mohammed Muneer Sidek
Stage Manager: Koo Ching Long
Asst. Stage Manager: Joanne Ng
Costume Designer: Betty Png
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