Performed/Written by RICHARD CHUA and CYRIL WONG
Lighting Design by FOO KOK LIM | Makeup by ERNEST SEAH
Costume Design by LAICHAN | Wings Design by DONNA ONG
With help from PAMELA LUN, ELVIN CHING, MAGGIE LIM, ANDREW NG and RYAN CHUA
Performance
Chamber, The Arts House | 27-29 Oct 2005, 8pm (3pm Matinee on 29 Oct)
A woman looks out the window, but sees only her reflection in the glass. An old Chinese song plays in the background, projecting her to another time. She longs to be sure that her life will mean something when it's over. She longs to be a migratory bird. But she can't. She is stuck on Singapore soil. And the climate is changing. What else can she do?
Nominated for a 2006 DBS Life! Theatre Award for Best Actor.
It was funny, touching and dramatic and that managed to come through despite language barriers!
- OVIDIA YU, playwright
PRESS REVIEW
When it was first staged in June this year, Still Flight was a one-woman monologue in English written by poet Cyril Wong and performed by Elizabeth de Roza.
Trained in a style of movement-based performance, de Roza played an unnamed woman ensnared in the throes of depression by writhing and yearning in the stark space of The Substation’s Dance Studio.
In this revised staging, Wong’s script retains elements of the first version. Depression is still an important thread in the narrative, as is the character’s relationship with her mother.
But with performer Richard Chua playing the female protagonist (now named Siu Ngor) in a mix of Mandarin, Chinese dialects and English, the play is almost an entirely different creature.
For one thing, the juxtaposition of the sombre performance venue (the Old Parliament Chamber) and whimsical props like a stuffed toy dog give the production a kitschy aura of surreal humour.
Making full use of this unusual venue, Chua’s Siu Ngor began by seating herself next to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s former seat, remarking on how his English speeches about government policies were impossible for her to understand.
This social aspect of the play did not pan out into a sustained development, but anecdotal asides like these did make Siu Ngor a much more fleshed-out character. She addressed the audience warmly as she related stories about her life, seeking to connect with them.
Depression was something this inherently optimistic, likeable character was uncomfortable with. She distanced herself from it by turning poignant moments into comedy, and never spiralled into morose depths like how de Roza’s character had.
Playwright Wong, clad in a skin-tight cheongsam, added to the dream-like atmosphere by playing what the programmed described as a “prop…a sort of distortional mirror or mental foil to the central character.”
Wong cooed siren songs as he strutted and pouted as a series of symbols – goddess of salvation; the chanteuse starring in Siu Ngor’s subconscious; and a mocker of her loneliness.
A projection of artist Donna Ong’s drawing of insect wings also dominated the set, a reminder of the pronounced arch of optimism striving to take flight in this play.
Like the light and shadow that formed the projection, this mellow meditation on solitude was more light than shadow.
- Hong Xinyi, The Straits Times, Life! Nov 01, 2005