Two contrasting readings of Mishima's classic

AS part of the Esplanade's ongoing Super Japan festival, two theatre directors - Singapore's Chong Tze Chien and Japan's Shigeki Nakano - have given two starkly different interpretations of Yukio Mishima's 1950s Noh play The Damask Drum.

In Mishima's version, an old man in love with his beautiful neighbour is made a fool of. She tells him he can kiss her if he sounds a particular drum. It turns out the drumhead is made of damask, incapable of making a sound. Failing the challenge, the old man drowns himself and returns as a ghost to haunt her.

Chong's interpretation is a faithful one, going so far as to use text from Mishima's play. But he's also enriched it with additional text he wrote himself as well as excerpts of famous writings by Richard Dawkins, Sylvia Plath, Kurt Vonnegut, Paulo Coelho and others. The result is a rich and layered meditation on love, desire and the cruelty of those who possess beauty.