An Authentic Adaptation, But Trapped In Time

Pesta Raya — Malay Festival of Arts

- Ong Sor Fern

THEATRE SALINA Teater Kami Singtel Waterfront Theatre May 2 Salina is a time capsule, which makes for good National Education fodder. But cutting-edge theatre, it is not.

Teater Kami first staged A. Samad Said's seminal 1962 novel in 1993. Cultural Medallion recipient Atin Amat is once again at the helm of this staging, commissioned by the Esplanade for its annual Pesta Raya — Malay Festival of Arts.

It is no easy task to wrangle an almost 600-page book onto the stage and the strain shows. Despite a 2½-hour runtime, there are some plot gaps that will puzzle viewers new to the story.

After air raid sirens and a short montage of the Japanese invasion set the story firmly in post-war Singapore, the audience is introduced to the inhabitants of Kampung Kambing. A dizzying array of characters parades across the stage and the relationship dynamics take a while to untangle in a series of short vignettes that attempt to condense the novel into digestible chunks.