Jack and the Beansprout
Jack and the Beansprout was jolly good!
Ivan Heng was simply amazing in his drag role as Widow Neo, mother of Jack Neo (hurhur), who as the eponymous hero of the play has been retained several times in school already when the play begins. Lots of irony and puns in the play, many of them dirty too... I was a little apprehensive before it began as there were so many kids in the audience and Sebastian Tan (Jack) addressed the audience in the same manner that adults telling stories to kids do, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was good fun for everyone, young and old alike, though of course, some of the cruder jokes would have been lost on the kids (which would have been a good thing, yes).
I particularly liked the ending because it contained a moral message, and whose twist to the abridged fairy tale I had come across many years ago. It struck me with the same poignancy as when I first read this variation. Hmmm. I can't even say which part of the play I liked best - their playing on stereotypes in gangster shows, the incessant punning on Jack's beansprout and its size, or the snide jabs they made at the government.
Here's one of my favourites, when Widow Neo desperately pleaded for extra time from the chief gangster cum loanshark promising to give him the money when Jack returned home and he retorted: "Your promises are like the General Elections. They always say coming coming coming... But when they come, walkover."
Oh and if anyone's interested, check out the Parking Pontianak MTV by the Dim Sum Dollies here. It's HILARIOUS.
Ivan Heng was simply amazing in his drag role as Widow Neo, mother of Jack Neo (hurhur), who as the eponymous hero of the play has been retained several times in school already when the play begins. Lots of irony and puns in the play, many of them dirty too... I was a little apprehensive before it began as there were so many kids in the audience and Sebastian Tan (Jack) addressed the audience in the same manner that adults telling stories to kids do, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was good fun for everyone, young and old alike, though of course, some of the cruder jokes would have been lost on the kids (which would have been a good thing, yes).
I particularly liked the ending because it contained a moral message, and whose twist to the abridged fairy tale I had come across many years ago. It struck me with the same poignancy as when I first read this variation. Hmmm. I can't even say which part of the play I liked best - their playing on stereotypes in gangster shows, the incessant punning on Jack's beansprout and its size, or the snide jabs they made at the government.
Here's one of my favourites, when Widow Neo desperately pleaded for extra time from the chief gangster cum loanshark promising to give him the money when Jack returned home and he retorted: "Your promises are like the General Elections. They always say coming coming coming... But when they come, walkover."
Oh and if anyone's interested, check out the Parking Pontianak MTV by the Dim Sum Dollies here. It's HILARIOUS.