A headliner
of the Singapore Theatre Festival 2008 with its bold and catchy title,
local poet and playwright Ng Yi-Sheng's The Last Temptation of Stamford
Raffles casts an irreverent eye over the history of Singapore's
founder, Sir Stamford Raffles, providing an entertaining and nuanced
exposé of his life.
The Last Temptation is a witty reconstruction of the last
twelve hours in the life of Raffles. Traditionally revered as a symbol
of order and harmony, Raffles is (quite literally) brought down from
his pedestal as the tumultous and chaotic events of his life are exposed.
By turns haunting and hilarious, Ng's script peeks behind the veneer
of Raffles, depicting him as an articulate, supremely confident adventurer
whose noble intentions to develop a little-known fishing village came
at the expense of immense personal and emotional sacrifice.
Under the assured if rather heavy-handed direction of Christina Sergeant,
the play opens in 1826, with Raffles's second wife Sophia (Claire Devine)
narrating the final hours of Raffles's life for his biography as he
lies in bed fitfully. As he wakes, Raffles is confronted by an enormous
poetry-spouting Rafflesia luring him with tales of his past and a pristine
white statue of himself (much like the one currently standing by the
Singapore River) telling him about the future of Singapore and how much
it has progressed.
The rest of this rather tight 75-minute play navigates through both
climactic and little-known events in Raffles's life - his birth on a
ship off the coast of Jamaica, his arrival in Singapore with his first
wife and sister, his invaluable research destroyed in a fire and his
altercation with Farquhar over the governance of the island. While the
script reads like a history textbook in places, it invests the character
of Raffles with a hitherto unexplored pathos that makes him more human
than the rather one-sided accounts of his colonial prowess. In a poignant
scene where Raffles discovers that Singapore has descended into a pit
of vice and corruption in his absence, he yells at Farquhar, "pulangkan
anak saya" (return me my child). Having lost most of his children
to tropical diseases, this outburst emerges all the more sadly ironic;
we see in Raffles a father desperate not to let go of his country-child,
a man trying to achieve a mark in the world.
The Mumbai-born, London-trained Rehaan Engineer gives a masterful performance
as Raffles, leaping effortlessly from the langour of a bedridden man
to the boundless, almost unbridled energy of an ambitious colonialist.
His casting is perfect and his chemistry with the other actors excellent.
Ian Tan and Patricia Toh, as the talking statue and Rafflesia respectively,
are largely competent though one gets the sense that they are trying
too hard to hit the punchlines. It does not help that Ng makes the statue
overly preachy and gratuitously laces every other line of the Rafflesia
with Shakespeare. Their antics, while deliberately exaggerated, seem
overly stagey and tend to descend into farce, detracting from the smooth
flow of the plot. Amongst the supporting cast, Candice de Rozario dazzles
with her skilful handling of a wide assortment of comic roles, her portrayal
of a chanting Jamaican midwife being especially entertaining.
The set design by Wong Chee Wai and lighting by James Tan deserve particular
praise for incorporating the play's blend of fantasy and reality. Translucent
drapes are employed to convey additional background scenes by the clever
use of silhouettes. The larger-than-life bed is swiftly transformed
into a ship by the addition of a railing and a wardrobe turns effortlessly
into a door. The asymmetrical bed with tropical fruit designs that acts
as the centrepiece of the set effectively conjures up the tussle between
reason and passion, order and chaos.
The Last Temptation is definitely a memorable play that has
been carefully researched by Ng and written with a love of language
that only a poet can provide. Yet ultimately, for all its personal tragedy
and emotional tumult, we are somehow unable to connect with the story
of Raffles. Perhaps the script tries too hard with all the farcical
comedy and symbolic undertones (I detected veiled biblical references),
perhaps it appears too smooth to be earnest. What The Last Temptation
does however achieve is a more genuine depiction of one of Singapore's
most revered historical figures, one that is far more compelling and
thought-provoking than your average history book.
Guest Reviewer Naeem is a quirky, effervescent creature who has
been involved as an actor and director in school-based theatre productions
in Singapore and London for the past ten years. Despite having sold
his soul to the legal profession, he still remains a faithful thespian
and tries to indulge in as many theatre trips as he can squeeze into
his busy schedule.
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"Far more compelling and thought-provoking than your average history
book"
Credits
Playwright: Ng Yi-Sheng
Director: Christina Sergeant
Set Design: Wong Chee Wai
Lighting Design: James Tan
Sound Design: Shah Tahir
Costume Design: Moe Kasim
Hair Design: Ashley Lim
Makeup Design: M.A.C.
Puppet Makers: Candice de Rozario, Ian Tan
Producer: Tony Trickett
Production Manager: Purpink Chung
Stage Manager: Toh Lin
Technical Manager: Teo Kuang Han
Assistant Stage Manager: June Wong
Stage Assistant: Farina Bte Sidik
Wardrobe Mistress: Nurhidayah Mahadi
Wardrobe Assistant: Sophian Sazali
Cast: Fazli Ahmad, Claire Devine, Candice de Rozario,
Rehaan Engineer, Tony McGill, Ian Tan, Jo Tan, Tien Devine and Patricia
Toh
Photography: Albert Lim KS
Second Opinion
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