MAN Singapore Theatre Festival 2011 -- "Family Outing"

 I just got back from watching Family Outing. I must say, as the third show I've watched in the MAN Singapore Theatre Festival 2011, this was a nice ending to the theatre fest.

The title Family Outing was I thought, very apt. A trip down memory lane to remember times spent with a loved one. And down that lane.... something different from what they remembered stood out, and all of a sudden, the family is seeing the same scenery and yet painting a different picture all at the same time.

Written by someone of the same age as I am, I could somehow relate to the characters of the story, no matter how foreign the topics discussed were to me. (I am neither a Christian nor am I gay, and I have few friends who are)

Family Outing poster

The play was considerably short, just over an hour. But as a script written for a play script module in school, I think this is as good as it gets. It isn't too complex, it isn't too deep, but it gnaws at you the way real life does, and I think that is the beauty of it.

The show discusses about religion and death and gay issues, all seemingly dark and angsty. But somehow, Joel Tan (the playwright) managed to combine all these elements into a heartwarming and humorous piece about acceptance and love.

Though it was hard to accept the way the Choo family behaved in the first scene, with all the celebration and popping of sparkling wine for the first year anniversary of a son's death, but I guess everyone deals with grief differently, so no judgement there.

In any case, it is a feat for someone this young.

I particularly liked the parents of this show. Karen Tan and Lim Kay Siu put up very commendable performances and brought the characters to life. I like the way the parents were being portrayed, and I loved how in the end Doris (the mother) came to terms that she had actually known that her son was gay all along (since 12!?!?) but instead chose to ignore it.

The awkward moment came during the "talk back session" when the playwright, director and performers were up on stage answering questions from the audience and the playwright's (ACTUAL) brother spoke up and said, "So why did you not tell us before and now choose to do this so publicly?"

Erm... AWKWARD.

So, it's sort of a "true" story, at least adapted from his own life story. No wonder it felt so real...

About "Family Outing" from the MAN Singapore Theatre Festival official website:

The Choos aren’t used to being sad, even with a death in the household. A year after their son Joseph dies, the family – HDB auntie Doris, civil servant Amos and their neurotic youngest son, Brandon – pops a bottle of bubbly in good Christian cheer to celebrate his life and times. But a knock at the door promises to change things forever. A young man called Daniel arrives to announce the truth of a Joseph the family had never known. 

What follows is intense family drama as the Choos and Daniel struggle to reconcile the facts of Christian life – hellfire and damnation – with the Joseph they’ve lost, want to remember and are already beginning to forget. Meanwhile, Joseph looks on and comes to terms with being dead, filling the loneliness of the grave with fond memories of his family.

Family Outing is both a playful romp and a moving biography of a family examining – with laughs along the way – some painful facts of life: the burdens of unconditional love and of saying goodbye.

The "Family Outing" trailer

Interviews with the real masterminds...