LIE WITH ME
Presented by Intercultural Theatre Institute
In Collaboration with Esplanade — Theatres on the Bay
Written by Kaite O’Reilly
Directed by Phillip Zarrilli
Performed by ITI's 2019 graduating cohort
What are the evolving ‘rules’ of sexual encounters in a ‘swipe right’ culture?
What lies do we tell each other and ourselves in order to survive in an increasingly ‘throw-away’ consumerist society?
How do we form genuine relationships in this post-truth unstable world?
ITI presents the Asian premiere of Lie With Me, led by the award-winning team of playwright Kaite O'Reilly (“a writer to cherish” - The Guardian, “thought-provoking and entertaining” - The Stage) and director Phillip Zarrilli (“masterful artistry” - Disability Arts Online; “intellectual audacity coupled with sophisticated storytelling” - Wales Arts Review).
Performed by the international cast of ITI’s graduating cohort, Lie With Me takes a clear-eyed look at contemporary urban life in Singapore, through glimpses into the lives of eight young people trying to find their way in the world.
Production Designer: Dorothy Png
Sound Designer: Lee Yew Jin (Ctrl Fre@k)
Associate Sound Designer: Jeffrey Yue (Ctrl Fre@k)
CAST: Earnest Hope Tinambacan, Jin Chen, Regina Toon, Theresa Wee-Yenko, Ted Nudgent Fernandez Tac-An, Tysha Khan, Wendy Toh, Nourel Houda Essafi (A.K.A. Yiseong)
Download the programme for LIE WITH ME here: https://iti.edu.sg/assets/Uploads/FYP-3-Lie-With-Me.pdf
Scene 1: Hope Timanbacan and Regina Foo. Photo by Bernie Ng
REVIEWS:
[Review 1] Lie With Me - a powerful exploration of the longing for intimacy
12 Nov 2019
Article by Yaiza Canopoli
Photos by Bernie Ng
Written by Kaite O’Reilly and directed by Phillip Zarrilli, the Intercultural Theatre Institute presents the Asian premiere of Lie With Me - a play about human relationships, class struggles, and the quest for intimacy.
Scene 2: Regina Foo and Theresa Wee-Henko. Photo by Bernie Ng.
Led by a cast both Singaporean and international, the play was adapted by producers and actors alike to reflect Singaporean youth, and how we form meaningful relationships with each other. This is achieved by following eight characters, presented in pairs; one character of each pair overlaps and slips into the following couple on stage, threading a cyclical narrative of interconnectedness. The fact that each pair of characters feels lonely and isolated despite the wider connection to the entire cast speaks for itself: the sadness that envelops each character in its own way seeps out from the stage and makes this play relatable and breathtaking.
Movement score in the scene changeover between Scenes 2 and 3. Photo Bernie Ng.
The writing tackles a variety of topics and issues: we encounter poor Singaporeans, immigrants looking for work, sisters battling grief, same-sex couples, women fighting mental health issues, people in toxic relationships, and much more that falls in between these lines. Many of the characters’struggles begin to blend into each other to spell out a universally human longing for affection and love. As the fights that break out between couples, siblings, and strangers keep us on the edge of our seat, we are left with a deep sense of empathy for people whose actions are morally grey or straight-up terrible. A number of scenes end with characters who have lost their temper asking to be held, to be cared for - love and intimacy attempting to overcome anger and violence.
Scene 3: Wendy Toh and Theressa Yee-Henko. Photo by Bernie Ng.
The diversity of these relationships is impressive. We even get to witness the delightfully surprising connection that springs up between a self-involved upper-class woman and the prostitute she hires. While the attempt to cover such a wide variety of relationships and issues could have easily diluted the intensity of each story, the genuine nature of the dialogue, the fantastic acting (with wonderfully accurate facial expressions and even walking styles), and the masterful production made for a play that feels real and relevant.
Movement interlude between Scenes 3 and 4. Photo Bernie Ng.
It is not the most specifically local, Singaporean story you will ever hear. In fact, I would argue that despite its adaptation for the Singaporean stage, it still very much remains purposefully international and vague in its setting, which is perhaps one of its shortcomings. However, there is something to be said for a collaboration between writers, producers, and actors, and the blurred lines of the play’s location seem to me very much a result of this bringing together of people from all over the world. Whether the play should have been braver in shaping a more ‘obvious’Singaporean setting, or if its vague localisation works in its favour to make a stronger point about loneliness and isolation—that is for each viewer to decide.
Scene 4: Wendy Toh and Jin Chen. Photo by Bernie Ng.
Appropriately titled, Lie With Me invites the audience to feel and mourn with the characters as they hold on to the one thing they long for at the end of a terrible day: a moment of tenderness and unconditional human affection.
Lie With Me
by Intercultural Theatre Institute
Date: 7 Nov 2019
Time: 8:00pm
Venue: Esplanade Theatre Studio
Movement sequence between scenes 4 and 5. Photo: Bernie Ng.
REVIEW 2: · THE ARTS
November 15, 2019 6:46 pm
Lie With Me: Commentary on ‘Swipe Right’ Culture
Swipe, swipe, swipe, swipe, sigh, put phone down. Pause for five minutes. Pick up phone and the swiping starts again. Since the invention of dating apps, it has never been easier to meet someone new and completely out of your immediate circles. You can find yourself going out on five dates a week, if you really wanted to. However, does connectivity relate to less loneliness?Award-winning playwright Katie O’Reilly‘s Lie With Me brings this question to the table.
Scene 5: Ted Nugent and Jin Chin. Photo: Bernie Ng.
It is a relatively recent phenomenon, the ‘swipe right’ culture, and it has shifted the ways in which we try to form genuine connections in a world that is increasingly consumerist and driven by instant gratification. Not only have our choice of partners have shifted, what we actively seek have changed as well—One Night Stand, Friends With Benefits, and other variations that have come up along the way. So how do we define connection and what sort of future are we looking at?
Scene 6: Ted Nugent and Tysha Khan. Photo: Bernie Ng.
Directed by the internationally renowned Phillip Zarrilli, Intercultural Theatre Institute‘s graduating cohort showcases a series of snapshots that look at urban Singapore life. The audience members glimpse into the moments of eight characters, and journey through a range of emotions that usually leaves them with a bittersweet taste in their mouths.
Scene 7:Nour El-Houda Essafi (a.k.a. Yiseong) delivers her ‘Ted Talk’. Photo Bernie Ng.
The play starts with frantic music with an overwhelming pulsing beat, as the text on the background so succinctly describes. The ensemble of actors start moving in staccato, jerking their stiff bodies towards the centre of the performance space. The more frantic the music becomes, the more their bodies embody it by moving in spasms and broken up movements. Moving in the dim lights, it reminded me of a club night where numbers do not mean anything and the bodies around you can be strange, detached and alone.
Is this a foreshadowing of some sort? Before I can decide, the first scene begins on a pavement as the lights and music fade away. The scenes follow one after another, with consistent transitions of movement and gesture in between. After a while, it all seem so much like clockwork, repetition, with only the music influencing the pace and atmosphere of the movement. Is this another commentary on the routine we subject ourselves to, and the complacency in which we settle through our apps and transient relationships? I have no clue, and honestly the transitions do not do much for me although I can identify certain references of everyday gesture.
Jin Chen, who plays an independent artist and filmmaker, is strong in her portrayal although certain edges could be softened to invite the audience in. Her voice crisp and commanding, her stage presence draws you to her like a moth to a flame. I particularly enjoy the scene she shares with fellow actor Ted Nudgent Fernandez Tac-An — her eyes boring into his being, stalking the stage with lethal grace and her endless self-assuredness on full display for all to see. I believe her and all that she embodies, and is left curious as to who exactly is this woman and how did she become this way?
Other notable performances include Earnest Hope Tinambacanand Nour El Houda Essafi a.k.a. Yiseong. Their shifts from power and dominance to softness a pleasure to watch.
Scene 7: Yiseong and Tysha Khan. Photo: Bernie Ng.
Lie With Me is clever in its dialogue, and the layers of meaning it tries to unravel as the conversations wears on. Poetic and poignant, the language sits beautifully as subtitles, my eyes savouring every word and phrasing. However, some words feel slightly clumsy voiced out and if these scenes are said to take place in Singapore, then I question its language use. Technicalities aside, the text offers questions with no answers for the search is left to the audience members’ choice: to take home and mull over.
Scene 8: Yiseong and Hope. Photo Bernie Ng.
Then as it all begins, the actors come back for a final moment of floating in the air and struggling to reach for something. A connection, maybe, or to find their way back to the core of who they individually are. Lived moments and a whole journey later, still alone and strangers to one another.
Photography credits: Bernie Ng
http://popspoken.com/arts/2019/11/lie-with-me
Epilogue: entire cast.