Mood: Sleepy
Currently listening to: New Found Glory - All Downhill From Here
 
Note - I'm damn tired right now, my memory of watching this play is growing fainter by the second, i've already written another blog post AND i think i'm suffering from constipation (ouch), so forgive me if i keep this really (and i mean REALLY) short. My initial motivation to write this left me approximately 12 hours ago. A shame really, as it wouldn't do any justice to another's hard work and performance.
 


Synopsis:
 
Emily of Emerald Hill came to life in 1984 and her larger than life Peranakan presence has never really left the stage. Her character and story is so memorable and appealing and full of dramatic possibilities that great actors from Leow Puay Tin to Ivan Heng have donned her kebaya and embodied her.

The play, written by Singaporean award-winning playwright Stella Kon, follows the trials of Emily, who enters an arranged marriage, and as the years progresses through World War II and beyond, she slowly manipulates herself into a position of power.

In Malaysia, it has been consistently portrayed by the matriarchal Pearlly Chua, who really does look like everybody's favourite Nonya auntie. On Saturday, July 10, she plays her 116th performance of this role. She will be directed by her long-time collaborator Chin San Sooi. Presented by Music Theatre. 

Once again - the website can be found here.
 
Ah yes, harken back to the good ol' days of your (grand)parents when RM1 could actually buy you something relatively substantial, when everyone who was anyone tried to speak with a rather faux British accent, and when Chinese aunties really were Chinese aunties.
 
Pearlly pulls this character off extremely well. How? Well, its time for a quick 3 point dissertation on the behavioural traits of a chinese aunty (Singaporean variety *shudder*):
 
1. Manipulative of everyone around her, while thinking she is doing it subtly.
2. Having the ability to yell sternly as only a Chinese aunty could, "Ah Moooooooiiiiiii!!!!'
3. To have the ability to switch between accents when it suits her. To wit: "Why you so like that ah?" when talking to other Chinese, and something akin to "Oh Bah-bar-ah, of COURSE i lurve your dress" in a very over exaggerated English accent when speaking to white people in general.
 
Well, i'm not sure if its really acting ability or genes that allows Pearlly to pull this off (i suspect the latter), but she sounds just like the real thing (i get that involuntary shudder when she screams, a sure sign of my youthful remebrance of similar people in my life - namely a certain aunty i have who will yet remain unnamed here).
 
And thats all it really is come to think of it. A classic story that portrays her life in its entirety from a shy and bashful girl being married off to a man twice her age, to the family matriach, and finally to the older, wiser, and lonelier old grandmother she becomes. I'm not sure about you, but the portrayal of Emily really brought it home for me in regards to the consequences of ever having a Chinese wife who could potentially become such an aunty in the later years of her life - surely a show for all young men to watch about the dangers that lie waiting in the shadows of their pretty, bashful and doe-eyed chinese porcelain beauty. Or women in general really - the only differences really being cultural in nature. Ok, sure she has her share of tragedy in life, namely a son who commits suicide while trying to stand on his own two (inept) feet while studying in England, a cheating husband, and finally that crushing sense of loneliness and lack of dependency by people around her (a phobia really, due in part to the fact that Emily is an orphan), but really her greif its a little blown out of proportion in my opinion. Then again, thats exactly how Chinese aunties react to such tragedies so perhaps this is another facet of good acting/playwriting?
 
Anyway, if you can't tell, i'm in a rather grumpy mood and i'm pretty damn sure that if you asked me about this play yesterday my opinion would have been quite different - as would have been this review, come to think of it. A rant in the truest sense - a nonsensical stream of words within which is held nothing of actual substance or value, merely writing for writing's sake...
 
Argh! There i go again.... now i'm not even talking about the play!!! Sleep, need sleep.
 
*collects thoughts*
 
But a good play nonetheless. The final opinion is, as always, really based on that insubstantial sense of whether i enjoyed watching her performance, and to this i can heartily reply in the affirmative. Why? I don't really know, could have been the hilarious Malaysian/Singaporean references, or it could have just been the fact that i could recognise her character so well by comparing it to various people in my life. I guess that the best that i can say is that i was never once bored or lost throughout.
 
And my summation? A well done play, her acting is nearly flawless. Young Chinese ladies will probably find it a touching, accurate portrayal of a woman who beat the odds and managed to get a little wiser along the way despite the tragic... er... tragedies that occur at intermittent intervals throughout her life, troubles which could very well happen to them in the future. I'm sure they took notes.
 
As for the men? They'll probably just shudder throughout, not because of any flaws, but rather because of its unerringly accurate portrayal of how your future wife will change in front your eyes and potentially end up like that upstart aunty you know. Scary.
 
I'll give it four smileys.
 
I'm sleepy now, and not very coherent. And a little impatient + grumpy. Sleep beckons (amongst other things *sigh*)

Begone with ye!!!