Dollies revisit 700 years of Singapore history

UNIQUELY Singapore. That's how theatre director Glen Goei describes the Dim Sum Dollies, as he racks his brains for similar "triple threat" musical cabarets on stages in the region and the UK. "It's very rare to get this 'triple threat' in a trio and doing political satire at the same time. So they're a bit of a national treasure, and proudly Singaporean."

The "triple threat" in theatre refers to artistes who can act, sing and dance. The Dim Sum Dollies were formed in 2002 by Selena Tan, Pam Oei and the late Emma Yong, who was replaced by Denise Tan in 2011.

Having directed all of the Dollies' shows since 2004, Goei feels like he's grown with them over the years as well. "They were in their late 20s then and now in their 30s, and I'm in my 50s," he recounts with a laugh.

"But it's great to see how the themes have matured and how they've sharpened what they want to say over the years. The Dim Sum Dollies are always concerned about what's happening in the community, and injected their brand of humour into it so that Singaporeans can laugh at themselves."

Coming up soon is The History of Singapore Part 1, which was first staged in 2007 and repeated in 2008. Part 2 was staged only last December however, and scriptwriter Selena Tan points out that given the six-year gap between the two parts, many people hadn't seen Part 1.

"So it's not like we're following the Star Wars example of performing Part 1 after Part 2, that we decided to bring it back this year. It's our way of celebrating Singapore in its full sense, because it's an island with a history that stretches beyond 50 years."

Most of the material in the 2008 version is still current - since it does deal with Singapore's history from its discovery by Sang Nila Utama up to its modern day founding by Sir Stamford Raffles. "A lot of the jokes are timeless, after all."

There is one new addition though, when the "Samsui women" break out into an "earth-shattering" contemporary song, reveals Tan.

But the standout moments will be the Dollies' playing (DVD) pirates of the Malaccan straits, sarong party girls meeting Raffles and Farquhar (pronounced as "far-ker"). Then there will, of course, be a pertinent reference to Singapore's 1965 separation from Malaysia.

Altogether, they will be singing and dancing and satirising through 700 years of history, along with guest star Hossan Leong aka "Chopsticks".

The whole idea for The History of Singapore, says Tan, came about when a friend suggested presenting Singapore's history in Monty Python style. "So I based my ideas on the two history textbooks I studied in Secondary One and Two. We just had fun with it and re-imagined it."

More importantly, The History of Singapore Part 1 will not have the trials of Part 2, which was given an "Advisory 16: some mature content" by the Media Development Authority. That was the first time a Dollies show had been given a classification of any sort since the popular trio's inception.

Since Part 1 was based on the 2007 and 2008 script, it had already been given a general rating. "Which is good because I do want students to come and learn history in this light-hearted fashion," says Tan.

A history major himself, Goei sees the Dollies' shows as capturing the zeitgeist of the times - as they were conceived when the Internet opened up and Singaporeans became more vocal in the blogosphere.

"The audiences have grown in that they are voicing their concerns, and in terms of number as well. From a small recital studio show, the Dollies now show to tens of thousands at the Esplanade stage," he says.

People want to hear their concerns aired in the public arena, Goei feels, and in theatre, it's a shared, visceral experience.