By weaving the three tales of Mr and Mrs Noah, Nu Wa (Chinese Goddess of Creation and Marriage), and Singapore heartlanders Nora and Norman, Ovidia Yu’s THE WOMAN IN A TREE ON A HILL explores love, oppression, violence and freedom. It explodes the myths and archetypes surrounding Man and Woman, subverts preconceived notions of the age-old battle of the sexes and makes a compelling case for reclaiming an individual perspective. All this, set against the backdrop of global environmental holocaust.
Ovidia Yu’s play proposes that there is “something that happens when a woman climbs a tree”. Nora climbs to avoid the physical abuse of her husband Norman; Mrs Noah climbs to prevent Mr Noah from cutting down the first tree on the first hill as the Great Flood recedes; and Nu Wa descends from the heavens to battle Gong Gong the Water God. Cultural and mythical resonances abound as The Woman in a Tree on the Hill’s drama plays out opposing forces of Man and Woman trying and failing to find peace with each other.
Conceived and directed by Ivan Heng, this is a first-time collaboration between W!LD RICE, Gong Myong (Korea’s funkiest and most inspired drumming collective), performers Claire Wong and Foo May Lyn, and visual artists Amanda Heng and Tan Kai Syng. The production features live music, live video, a mountain of household appliances and a deluge of 3,000 recycled mineral water bottles, all woven into a challenging performance text. Told with humour and irony, it is guaranteed to touch and tickle lumberjacks and audiences the world over.
