The Business Time ( 06 Nov 09) Singapore
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IT SITS, IT DOESN'T MOVE, IT'S SOFAMAN! by Amanda De Guzman [Business Times]
IT SITS, IT DOESN'T MOVE, IT'S SOFAMAN!
By Amanda De Guzman
Business Times
WRITTEN by Haresh Sharma, Sofaman is not only noteworthy for its unusual plot - which is comprised of three narratives centred on the titular character, who takes inactivity to new levels - but also for its unique Singaporean-Russian heritage.
Co-directed by Alvin Tan, founder of local theatre company The Necessary Stage, and Tatiana Frolova - whose KnAM Theatre was the first private theatre company to be founded during Soviet times - Sofaman features a Russian and Singaporean cast.
“We share the same wavelength in terms of aesthetics,” says Mr Tan of Ms Frolova and her company. “They have become like a sister group of ours, and we have become very close. It's hard to find a group like that.”
According to Mr Tan, both companies enjoy using “socially engaged multimedia” in their work and employ their own “methodology and vocabulary”. As it happens, both groups are also around the same age - the Necessary Stage is in its 23rd year, while KnAM is a smidgen older at 25.
However, even with all these complementary qualities, there was one possible obstacle to Sofaman's fruition.
“There was a language barrier,” concedes Mr Tan. Both Ms Frolova and the Russian cast members are not entirely fluent in English. “But at the same time, we were able to work through those differences.”
Additionally, he points out that the themes of the script - which deal with identity, destiny, behaviour and “what happens to human beings in their social environment” - are universal in their intention.
Nevertheless, there are some distinctly Russian elements to the work: Sofaman features a main character with a striking resemblance to the titular persona in Russian writer Ivan Goncharov's seminal work, Oblomov. Like his literary counterpart - who famously stays in bed for the first 150 pages of the novel - Mr Sharma's Sofaman has chosen the inert life. A journalist by trade, one of his only interactions comes in the form of his protege.
There are also three other stories - Mr Tan says that it is up to the audience to interpret whether they are real or just figments of the Sofaman's imagination - which involve the romance between a Russian man and Singaporean woman, and the bond between a dress shop owner and a deaf-mute waitress.
“We want to challenge audiences in different ways,” says Mr Tan. “We want to place the audience in a collaborative position, and get them involved in the interpretation of the work.”
'Sofaman' will be performed from Nov 5 - 15 in The Necessary Stage
Black Box. Tickets are $22-$27 and can be purchased on www.sistic.com.sg