Fresh off his Singapore stage debut in Public Enemy, Ghafir Akbar is again heading into new territory with W!LD RICE. He chats with us about the intense rehearsal process and explains how he and the Malaysian cast are working on connecting the dots scattered throughout Another Country.
What can we expect from Another Country?
Aside from giving audiences the opportunity to (re)discover some of their own writers, poets, historical texts and other significant literary treasures, Another Country enables Malaysians and Singaporeans to look at one another and ask how we are similar and how we are different.
Tell us about the Singapore texts you’re working with. What has struck you about them?
The 35 texts are extremely varied. Alfian has selected texts that go beyond the strictly historical, instead looking at Singapore through the experiences and observations of its people. The writers are responding to what they experienced at particular moments of Singapore’s history. There is a clear understanding that no one event stands alone – everything is connected.
Another Country opens, for example, with an excerpt from The Malay Annals about a ‘strange animal’ inhabiting a new island. By the end of it, Singapore has transformed into an overpopulated entrepot town. This leads right into the second text, a series of classic Malay pantuns opening with the island of Temasek, newly renamed Singapura. So, while the texts stand alone, Alfian has placed little black dots for our director, Jo Kukathas, and the cast to connect. What we will draw from that is for the audience to find out when they come to the theatre!
Have you encountered any challenges while working on Another Country?
It can sometimes feel like you’re rehearsing 35 plays! While each piece is short, they each deserve the treatment and understanding accorded to a full-length work. As most of these texts come from larger works, there’s a lot of room for us to excavate and explore, especially in terms of how everything fits together within Another Country.
What have you learnt about Singapore in the course of rehearsing the play?
What I’ve discovered is that, throughout the history of Singapore, from the 16th century to the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, the people of Singapore have never stopped marching onwards. The babel continues in hawker centres, teachers continue to write sentences on the board, and rock stars still strut about in their drainpipe jeans. I admire the resiliency of Singapore and I hope this resonates in both countries.
What has the rehearsal process been like?
I love our little family. The rehearsals have been quite intense, as we’re working to figure out the physical and visual vocabulary we want to use to present these texts. That’s the beauty of this show – we get to transform non-dramatic texts into theatrical pieces that can evoke everything from laughter to grief in audiences.
Tell us about working with Jo and your cast mates.
Jo has been very inspirational. Her deep understanding of the history, life and culture of both countries has been so valuable in the rehearsal room as we work on gaining a deeper understanding on the texts. Her razor-sharp attention to detail, sensitive visual eye and boundless humour have really transformed the rehearsal room into a playground for us to play (and sometimes fail) together.
The cast has embraced one another’s energy and formed a really tight ensemble. We climb over one another, challenge one another, and hold one another through many draining days. Each of us is different in our method and processes, but we’re – separately and together – contributing to a shared vision. Anne James notates (and updates) everything on her script so she is as resourceful as the stage manager, Iedil Putra is our expert on traditional literary forms, Sharifah Amani is our nenek rag doll (she gets tossed in many different directions), and Alfred Loh never say die! Above all, the ensemble is kind, talented and unique.
What do you hope audiences will take with them after watching the show?
A deeper appreciation of the writers from our own shores, and the wealth of really good writing that we need to read, share and understand. Also, that Malaysia and Singapore are really not that different. In a way, there is no ‘another’ country. We all came from the same country.
You’re working on Another Country just a few weeks after Public Enemy, your stage debut in Singapore, closed. What was that experience like?
Public Enemy was amazing. I could not have asked for a better experience with the director, cast, crew, production team and our amazing audiences. I was touched by the number of people who came up to me after the show (sometimes at restaurants) and shared that they recognised themselves in Public Enemy. Many foreigners also recognised the politics and people of their home country in this play. I particularly enjoyed watching the audiences lean forward in anticipation when they became a part of the play in Act Four.
In the spirit of Another Country, share with us a memorable experience or anecdote you have that relates to Singapore.
You know, I never visited Singapore very much growing up. Apart from a distant relative, my family did not have much of a connection with the island. So, to me, going down to Singapore meant going shopping on Orchard Road for an afternoon, and then driving back to visit my relatives who live between Singapore and KL.
During these visits, I always wanted to go see the Merlion, but never got around to doing it. So it has always been at the back of my mind that I would, one day, go and see the Merlion. I still haven’t seen it! When I was in Singapore for Public Enemy, I asked around about this famed Merlion and gathered mixed responses about this icon. While I was disappointed to learn that the Merlion was less than mythic, I’ll be sure to visit it when I come back for Another Country. I’ve also found out that there are a few Merlions all over Singapore! My Singaporean friends have given me plenty of advice on which one I should go see.
