Tackling an inconvenient truth in Singapore

A NEW play by Alfian Sa’at looks at an issue that all of us should be obsessing about but aren’t: Climate change. For the past 5 years, the well-known playwright has been researching the topic. He’s interviewed various stakeholders, from a botanist to an activist, from a bird-watcher to… well, a banyan tree and a tiger. (More on this later.) They’ve all culminated in a play titled Pulau Ujong (Island At The End), which is also the ancient name of Singapore as it appears in Chinese records, possibly from the 3rd century.

Alfian makes clear, however, that it’s “not a work that’s hectoring or sermonising. I don’t want it to guilt the audience into action. If anything, I want the work to be about re-enchantment, shifting ways of sensing and feeling, allowing the audience to expand their boundaries of care and empathy to include the non-human”.

Directed by Edith Podesta, the play stars 5 talented actors taking on multiple roles, each giving voice to a diverse cast of (mostly real-life) characters who have been observing, examining and/or feeling the impact of the rise in temperatures, increase in sea level and destruction of natural environments.

Alfian says the interviews he conducted were extremely memorable. “A young activist involved in environmental communication shared how there is no such thing as a perfect activist, and that it’s OK to lapse or make mistakes, or appear inconsistent or contradictory. A botanist spoke about how conservation is not just about performing the right actions but possessing the right values. 

“I think one of my most memorable ‘interviews’ is with the current Ah Meng, who is the granddaughter of the original Ah Meng (the Singapore Zoo’s famous orangutan mascot). Her original name is Ishta, but as Ah Meng’s chosen successor, she was renamed. It’s a really interesting story for me because it raises questions about the individuality of non-human creatures and the nature of celebrity.”

To be sure, he didn’t quite “speak” with the orangutan in her language. Rather he invented the interview of her as well as other non-human subjects such as a banyan tree, a hornbill, a tiger and a trumpet tree, because he wanted to place the human and the “more-than-human” on the same plane in this play. “It’s really fascinating for me to explore what the world might look like to a plant or an animal.”

Alfian is no stranger to this mode of theatre-making known as “documentary theatre”. In 2011, he had a huge hit with the play Cooling-Off Day, which features interviews with many Singaporeans on their political views. Subsequently, he wrote another hit, Cook A Pot Of Curry (2013), which tackles the issue of foreigners in Singapore. Although these were particularly hot-button issues then, they were expressed with incredible humour, making them two of the most memorable plays of the 2010s. 

He says: “What documentary theatre offers me is range, and this topic of climate change is so large that I don’t think it is served best with a single story (which is how I would usually write my dramas). We need to tell many, many stories. And the audience needs to hear a whole range of voices and debates surrounding the issue.”

The cast members are Siti Khalijah Zainal, Koh Wan Ching, Krish Natarajan, Ryan Ang and Al-Matin Yatim. The starry creative team includes costume designer Max Tan, hair designer Ashley Lim and lighting designer Steve Kwek.

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Alfian says the title Pulau Ujong has many meanings apart from it being Singapore’s ancient name. “As you might know, “pulau” means “island” and “ujong” (or “hujung”) means “at the end”. I’m playing with the possible meanings of the term, so it could mean an island at the end of the peninsula and continental South-east Asia, or it could mean an island at the end of its lifespan. The latter is more a provocation – because we know that when sea levels rise, islands are some of the most vulnerable places to be in.

“I’m also interested in recovering this notion of Singapore as an island, surrounded by the sea on all sides, exposed to the elements, with some endemic species that have evolved in isolation, and a place of refuge for many birds during their migrations. When I think of Singapore as this island, with tremendous biodiversity in spite of its small size, this place feels all the more precious.”

Pulau Ujong by Wild Rice runs from Sep 15 to Oct 2 at the Ngee Ann Kongsi Theatre in Funan. Tickets from wildrice.com.sg