Statement Piece a funny and nuanced take on artists' ethical and moral challenges

The controversial work of art at the centre of playwright Myle Yan Tay's sophomore script is really a red herring.

- Ong Sor Fern

THEATRE STATEMENT PIECE Checkpoint Theatre Drama Centre Black Box April 3

The canvas is literally a tabula rasa that offers a clever bit of stage business even as myriad stories are written over it, erased and rewritten.

The painting is ostensibly created by artist Gopal Rangaraj (Huzir Sulaiman), who has re-emerged from a 10-year hiatus with his first new work featuring an unnamed and recently deceased national figure.

Curator and gallerist Lily (Tricia Tan) is first appalled, and then scrambles to recalibrate the delicate calculus of censorship, controversy and currency – both metaphorical and literal – that could make or break her budding career.

Complicating the mix is the appearance of artist Marjia (Rusydina Afiqah), who shows up to surprise girlfriend Lily, only to get drawn into a confrontation over art and politics.

Singaporeans in the audience will immediately cotton on to the sly references to a mammoth funeral procession. But Tay is too smart a playwright to build his work on this one gimmick.