Emily of Emerald Hill

Written By
Stella Kon

Directed By
Krishen Jit

Starring
Ivan Heng

Synopsis

The 'other Singapore girl', Emily is one of the most complex and well-loved heroines in Singapore theatre history. Emily is an abandoned Chinese Peranakan girl-child who, by dint of her native wit and cunning, braves her lot in life to emerge as high society's 'hostess with the mostest' and the matriarch of a large and distinguished household. But her success comes at the heartrending personal cost of her son's suicide and estrangement from her husband.

Her story is passionately played out against the glamorous backdrop of the decadent glory days of the Singaporean Peranakan community in the 1950s. Flying in the face of an oppressive Chinese patriarchal system, Emily's struggle celebrates the triumph of the human spirit, the will to survive, succeed and remain relevant in this ever-changing world.

Stella Kon's Emily of Emerald Hill, a bitter-sweet eulogy to the disappearing culture of the Chinese Peranakan, is the most produced indigenous work in the history of the Singapore theatre. This seminal production is the first in the play's 17-year history to feature a man in the role of Emily. Apart from being a nod to the tradition of female impersonation in Peranakan theatre, it explodes the myth of the subservient Asian woman and exposes the sexual politics of the kitchen and bedroom.

Director's Message (Krishen Jit)

Emily of Emerald Hill revisits Singapore in an entirely new guise: the reinvention of Emily is descending upon Singapore after hugely successful appearances in Kuala Lumpur, and Hong Kong. Firstly, what makes Emily new is that it is performed by Ivan Heng, who has emerged as one of the most accomplished and charismatic actors of his time. The fact that he is male, raises an obviously provocative image that engagingly penetrates the social and psychological anatomy of gender. But Ivan does not merely become or impersonate a woman. On stage, he is radiant with visages of both genders, male and female.  + more

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