Tiger tiger burning bright

Singapore's top playwright Alfian Sa'at joins forces with researcher-dramaturg Shawn Chua to create this complex, provocative and humorous play based on a 1943 Japanese film titled The Tiger Of Malaya. The original film portrays the life of a Japanese agent living on the east coast of Malaya, with Japanese, Malay and Chinese characters speaking in Japanese.

But here Alfian and Chua, together with director Fared Jainal, have gathered a group of Malay, Chinese and Japanese actors to re-enact scenes from the film so as to tell a different perspective of history and correct misperceptions. The process ultimately forces them to test their own self-identities and beliefs about their races.

The play titled Tiger of Malaya plays at the Drama Centre Theatre from Sept 12 to 23. Tickets from Sistic.