Singapore is Emerald City in The Wizard Of Oz

Wild Rice's annual pantomime includes crimes of Yishun and Singlish of the exaggerated kind, set against a wondrous, trippy set

- Clement Yong

THEATRE

THE WIZARD OF OZ

Wild Rice

Ngee Ann Kongsi Theatre, Funan

Nov 16

The fantastical, rainbow-hued land of Oz is reimagined in Wild Rice's annual fun-filled pantomime, ratcheted up a few notches with the crimes of Yishun, pyrotechnics and Singlish of the exaggerated kind.

Directed by Ivan Heng, this iteration remaps L. Frank Baum's Munchkin Country and the glistening Emerald City onto a geographically fluid Singapore, with an especially scandalous joke applied to Choa Chu Kang Cemetery.

While retaining the original's lessons of finding strength in friends and ultimately oneself, it lobs soft volleys at the ferrying of workers on lorries, the oil industry on Jurong Island and the mirage of strong government. It is a windfall for playwright Alfian Sa'at, always adept at sneaking in local, subversive commentary.