It is the 18th of October, 7.45pm. You arrive at the doors of the Malay Heritage centre. You see the posters for Tanah Air and know that this is the right place. The doors only open at 8.15pm so there are only a few people here. You find a corner to stand in while [[waiting]] for your friends to arrive.Hello! In this twine review, I will walk you through my experience of [[Tanah Air|Tanah / Air]].
Or [[TLDR]].There is a round stage in the centre of the courtyard, and chairs around one side of it. On the stage, there are books strewn all over, pages open and flipping with the occasional wind. There is a cluster of [[sound equipment|start]] to the back of the stage. Some of your [[friends]] go to the [[washroom]] before the show. You save seats for them, and settle down. There is still 15 minutes to the [[start]] of the show. You [[look around]].The lights dim. Bani enters the performance space and starts playing music. It is ambient and [[inviting]].You watch as people stream in slowly. You recognise many of those faces. You wave at them. And continue to [[look around]].There were no washrooms outside the gates of the Malay Heritage centre, where you were waiting before the show. When the doors open, half of the audience members stream to use the washroom, including your [[friends]].Wan Ching enters the space wearing a white traditional-looking garb. She is holding a large book. She sits down on the floor beside the sound equipments, in front of a book stand and a microphone. She opens the book and starts to [[speak]]. She tells us a [[folk-tale]] of a girl called Marmah.It is in [[Mandarin]]. There are [[surtitles]] on the screens.The screens are at the far left and far right of the stage. The one on the [[left]] is nearer to you. The one on the [[right]] is beside Wan Ching, so you should be able to watch her and read the surtitles at the same time.The Mandarin spoken is not in the contemporary vernacular. It sounds beautiful and [[poetic]].But you [[don't understand]] it. Do you look at the [[surtitles]]? Or at [[Wan Ching|difficult]]?The left screen is very near and the words are clear, but you [[cannot see|difficult]] any part of the stage. You see the Malay makciks sitting in the row in front of you. Their eyes are glued on the screen.Except the screen is too small and too far away and your poor vision makes the words [[difficult]] to read. Doesn’t help that there is a floor light right beside the screen, shining straight at you. Since Wan Ching is just reading from a book, seated on the floor, you decided to focus on [[reading the words on the screen instead]].The music swells and the 5 [[dancers]] stream in, dressed in black. They stand at the [[front of the stage]].But they are standing right in front of the screen on the right, [[obscuring your view]]. Their movements are abstract, more expressive than literal. You want to [[watch them|front of the stage]].Do you [[watch them]]? Or do you turn your head to [[read the surtitles]] on the screen on the left? Or try to do [[both]]?You try to switch between looking at the screen and watching the dancers. Your eyes [[ache]] from flicking back and forth. You catch only half of the story, and watch only half of the dancer's movements.You understand less than half of the words spoken. Trying to glean meaning from the dancers’ movements. But you really want to [[understand the story|obscuring your view]] that Wan Ching is telling.You understand the story, but cannot watch the dancers. But the dancers are so emotive and you really want to [[watch them|obscuring your view]].What has been on my mind since watching the show is the [[multiplicity]] of [[narratives and voices]], even in a geographical area as small as Singapore. You need the [[surtitles]].Set in 1819, we follow the life of Marmah, who was born on the sea. She losses her home and parents at a young age, and is adopted by silat master Wak Cantuk. She struggles with her new life on land, and yearns to go back to the sea.
Inspired by Isa Kamari's Duka Tuan Bertakhta, Neo Hai Bin wrote the script in [[Mandarin]].Your back also [[aches]] from sitting on the tall chairs. You find it difficult to enjoy the intriguing [[story]] and movement piece at the same time. The story was broken into many chapters, introducing new sub-characters in almost every chapter. You find it hard to keep up, and find yourself wishing that you could bring the book home to read in the [[comforts|aches]] of your bed.The first part of the Tanah / Air ends with actor Deonn Yang standing in the middle of the grasspatch that leads to the next part of the show. The [[lights come up]].The audience members are ushered to the indoor venue for the [[next part]] of the show.There is a [[15 minute intermission]] before Air starts.We are invited to view the mini exhibition with infographics on the Orang Asli and Orang Seletar. There are also people giving out cups of cold tea. We could choose to view the [[mini exhibition]] or [[head inside]] to wait.You see as people start to arrive and the small square in front of the Malay Heritage center starts to seem way too small. It starts to get noisy as friends gather and make conversation. You stay in your [[corner]].Your friends arrive, and you make your way to the counter to get sign in for the show. You make small talk. When the doors finally open, you are [[ushered in|15 minutes]].There is the [[narrative]] taught in school during social studies and history classes. There are the folk tales passed down across generations. There are the [[forgotten voices]] of minority communities.Often, the discussion in Singapore seems to revolve around racial harmony and the four categories of races that people living in Singapore have been pigeon-holed into. We forget that we cannot draw such clear boundaries and ignore the individual voices within each community.
Such narrow discussion leads us to a dead-end. We stop listening.How much we hear depends on how much effort we are willing to put in to [[listen]].And accept that we can no longer take shelter under the comforts of a single blanket narrative.What do we choose to [[see]], who do we choose to [[listen to|narratives and voices]]?The dancers, Wan Ching, Bani, each of the voices embodied in Air, the surtitles split into two screens, the videos and photos taken by the Orang Seletar. What is our [[choice|narratives and voices]]?The exhibition provides very concise and easy-to-read information on the Orang Seletar. This includes a timeline of what happened when they were forced out of their land and could not return, and pictures and videos of their lives in Johor now.
The actors from Air are also walking around outside. They take a brief glance at the exhibition, then [[head inside]].In the centre of the space are many clear boxes with various items in it, just like how artefacts are exhibited in museums. These boxes are arranged in the shape of a [[boat]].The actors are walking around the space, marking out a map on the floor with chalks. It is a map of the area around Johor and Singapore.
There are [[screens|screens 2]] on the far ends of either sides of the performance space.On the screens are videos and pictures of the Orang Seletar, and where they [[live]] now.Throughout the show, the surtitles are also shown on the screen. The show is in Bahasa Melayu. Do you look at the [[surtitles|surtitles 2]] or watch [[the actors]]?There are some overlapping lines in the show, and the surtitles keep jumping from screen to screen. It is hard to [[keep up|the actors]].You choose to watch the actors. The actors walk around the space. They open up the boxes and free the objects from their cage. They interact with those objects, giving life to them. From the actor's movements, you could make out a rough idea of what they are saying. It is [[sufficient|TLDR]]. You feel their emotions through the rising and falling of their voices. You acknowledge that you will never fully understand what they are going through, but you allow them space and you [[listen|TLDR]].