I hemmed and hawed before committing to a night at Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) and National Theatre of Korea's commissioned 'Trojan Women'. It's described as "a contemporary Asian musical created from K-pop and pansori". It's an adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s 'The Trojan Women' (1965), itself an adaptation of Euripedes’ 415 BC Greek classic.
I'm not a fan of K-pop, K-dramas, K-food, and not keen on musicals or operas at all. Watching them expanded my world, yes, but it doesn't mean I'm enthusiastic about them or enjoy them. It's simply a neccesary form of education. The only reason I went to 'Trojan Women' was to satisfy my curiosity- it's women-centric, and because it's directed by Ong Keng Sen, SIFA's festival director (in his swan song and last season for the festival) and every printed paragraph now refers to him as 'Founding Festival Director'. Hehehe.
I'm going to miss the quirky and brave programing of SIFA under Keng Sen. It's a trail he has blazed, pushing boundaries and making the authorities a tad nervous. But that's art isn't it? I wasn't fond of the milk and toast programs under the old umbrella of then Singapore Arts Festival. That was such lip service. I'm definitely an appreciative audience of SIFA these four years- edgy shows and content, and reasonable ticket prices. I really don't have confidence in our arts council in terms of letting boundaries float a little. Our government has such thin skin, and they can be such bureaucrats. In an interview with The Guardian published 9 September 2017, Keng Sen said,
There was a lot of wailing in 'Trojan Women'. I already steeled myself for that, but to actually sit through it...was..., never mind. I was thankful for the musical's minimalist approach in its stage sets, costumes and colors (white, grey and red). That made it easy on the eyes. In an interview of Arirang News last November when the musical ('changgeuk') debuted in Seoul, Korea, Ong Keng Sen said, "The less we put on stage, the clearer we can imagine." I agree. I understand there's a local version of this play that was staged in 1991, also directed by Ong Keng Sen, but I was too young to know it then.
This was performed in Korean and of course there were English surtitles. So I understood what they were singing and how and why the story developed as it did. I admired the treatment and the production of the Korean pansori; appreciated the skills of the actors and musicians. Unfortunately the finer points of the pansori, its lament, and its songs are completely lost on me.
From the essence of a tale said to have happened around 1200BC that intrigued Homer, Trojan Women has been reinvented. Composed by celebrated master-artist, pansori singer and National Treasure, Ms Anh Sook-sun, in collaboration with K-pop composer extraordinaire, Jung Jae-Il, along with renowned Beijing choreographer Wen Hui’s signature movement work, Trojan Women tells the story of women in war in a showcase of gripping power and cross-cultural beauty.
I'm not a fan of K-pop, K-dramas, K-food, and not keen on musicals or operas at all. Watching them expanded my world, yes, but it doesn't mean I'm enthusiastic about them or enjoy them. It's simply a neccesary form of education. The only reason I went to 'Trojan Women' was to satisfy my curiosity- it's women-centric, and because it's directed by Ong Keng Sen, SIFA's festival director (in his swan song and last season for the festival) and every printed paragraph now refers to him as 'Founding Festival Director'. Hehehe.
I'm going to miss the quirky and brave programing of SIFA under Keng Sen. It's a trail he has blazed, pushing boundaries and making the authorities a tad nervous. But that's art isn't it? I wasn't fond of the milk and toast programs under the old umbrella of then Singapore Arts Festival. That was such lip service. I'm definitely an appreciative audience of SIFA these four years- edgy shows and content, and reasonable ticket prices. I really don't have confidence in our arts council in terms of letting boundaries float a little. Our government has such thin skin, and they can be such bureaucrats. In an interview with The Guardian published 9 September 2017, Keng Sen said,
“Singapore is [portrayed as] this kind of garden paradise, but you don’t know where the landmines are. And of course most tourists won’t step on them, but for locals there are lots of controls ... I want to reveal them, to have a more transparent society.”
Until Ong came on board to revive the festival, it had been curated by the government and had therefore been exempt from licensing restrictions. “They forgot about that for the first year, and in the first year we had carte blanche,” Ong says. “But in my second year, the censorship came back.”
There was a lot of wailing in 'Trojan Women'. I already steeled myself for that, but to actually sit through it...was..., never mind. I was thankful for the musical's minimalist approach in its stage sets, costumes and colors (white, grey and red). That made it easy on the eyes. In an interview of Arirang News last November when the musical ('changgeuk') debuted in Seoul, Korea, Ong Keng Sen said, "The less we put on stage, the clearer we can imagine." I agree. I understand there's a local version of this play that was staged in 1991, also directed by Ong Keng Sen, but I was too young to know it then.
This was performed in Korean and of course there were English surtitles. So I understood what they were singing and how and why the story developed as it did. I admired the treatment and the production of the Korean pansori; appreciated the skills of the actors and musicians. Unfortunately the finer points of the pansori, its lament, and its songs are completely lost on me.
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