Birth of an Island Nation, and a Political Legacy

Because of the seemingly neverending pandemic, I could not remember the last time I was in a large-scale proscenium theatre with 2,500 audiences enjoying a grand musical. Thanks to the combined efforts of Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT)--whose "Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress" from two decades ago has been a fond memory--and Aiwei, the critically acclaimed and highly popular 2015 production of "The LKY Musical" was recently restaged at the Sands Theatre in Singapore. This much-awaited "first large-scale musical in Singapore in over two years" was another success and many performances in the three-week limited run were completely sold out. 

Retelling the life and works of the late founding father Lee Kuan Yew from his Raffles College student time in 1941 when Singapore was a British colony on the brink of Japanese occupation to the Proclamation of Singapore in 1965 when Singapore and Malaysia were officially separated in the stage time of only about two and a half hours, late American playwright Tony Petito's book for this musical was based on Meira Chand's story and captured only the essence of key moments. Thanks in part to director Steven Dexter, the show never felt too rushed, nor sounded like an information overload.

My theatregoing partner, a Singaporean, commented at the intermission that it reminded her of what she studied in school; for me, who didn't go to the same school, it indirectly explained many facts about one of the world's fastest developing economies, most densely populated countries and least natural resources and a uniquely peaceful multi-cultural society although it ranks very low in the happiness index. I finally clearly understood, after a few trips to Singapore every year, for example, why Singapore has four official languages with English being the lingua franca despite the fact that the majority of population is of Chinese descent and why LKY's People's Action Party (PAP) has been, and will probably be, enjoying landslide victories in all general elections there--there's neither term limit for premiership nor constitutional court too.

The dream team of lyricist Stephen Clark and composer Dick Lee's work here might not be as enchanting as their "Forbidden City"; it still served its purpose of moving the story forward and elaborating certain key moments. In this male-dominated story, and society, I was especially touched by Kwa Geok Choo's, LKY's wife and secret behind his success, solo number "I'll be Here", part of which is, "I know that it's my place to walk behind him. But in my heart we're walking side by side. The faith that we shared; We dreamed and we dared. I know that I tried."

In fact, the credit here was also due to Kit Chan's immaculate portrayal of the former first lady and even though her stage time was much less than that of the title character, the audience could always feel her presence. As LKY, Adrian Pang was effortlessly immersed into the character and, as a result, the audience got to see different sides of the hard-working and strong-willed politician. In a supporting role of union leader and politician Lim Chin Siong, LKY's foil character who eventually took a different political path, Benjamin Chow's arresting performance could match Pang's at every beat and the same could be said for the ensemble who performed other minor roles.

The highly practical and neutral set design by London-based artist takis nicely fit both the horizontal and vertical massive space of the stage as scenes were continuously presented at different sections and levels which were deftly illuminated by Singaporean lighting designer Gabriel Chan. In short, "The LKY Musical" was an international production of a local story.

Interestingly and of course fittingly, the last number was Singapore's national anthem "Majulah Singapura" during which the audience was invited to stand up, and many of them did although I would assume not as many as the initial run in 2015 when Singapore celebrated the 50th anniversary of independence. That said and given the show's tagline "History; His Story; Our Story", I would never call "LKY" an ultra-nationalistic work. There's plenty non-Singaporeans can learn from LKY's life and works relatable to anyone.

A rumour is that a theatre company in another Southeast Asian country, with more exciting politics, was planning "The PC Musical: He Just Never Quits" for APEC Meeting next month but a recent controversy around a stand-up comedian's jokes on him has now put this project on hold. This is notwithstanding the fact that he himself wrote a few hit songs that can be easily put into the musical and many performances are expected to be sold-out thanks to thousands of military personnel who'd be bused in. Back in Singapore, judging from the audience reactions that Sunday evening, I'm sure the show will, and by all means should, be restaged soon. Check out www.facebook.com/theLKYmusical for more information.

Next month, SRT will stage Kendall Feaver's multi-award-winning family drama "The Almighty Sometimes" at their home stage KC Arts Centre in Robertson Quay. After pandemic hiatus, their annual outdoors production will return to Fort Canning Park with "A Midsummer's Night Dream" next May. Visit srt.com.sg for more details.

Pawit Mahasarinand

The writer's trip was supported by SRT. Special thanks to Charlotte Nors for all kind assistance.