"Closer"

Originally a play which was later remade into a film starring Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen, "Closer" talks about the intricacies of human relationship, about how people hurt those who love them and those they love. Through actions, and more importantly through words as sharp as blades, the emotions felt between the four characters were played out in detail, and almost painfully at the end of the show.

So this is the poster which everyone's o-so familiar with, the pretty faces of Hollywood.

 

And this is Pangdemonium's poster of "Closer". Not much originality eh?

Hmm, is it just me or have I seen something similar elsewhere?

Oh well, originality aside, this is after all an adaptation of Patrick Marber's play. What's more, isn't it more convenient to just apply a winning formula when you already have one? Seriously, having four halved faces with piercing expressions at the front of a poster can only ring one bell.

 This is the closest you can get, like seriously.

Marketing gimmicks aside, Pangdemonium's version of "Closer" was actually bearable, for what it's worth... The smartest move of all perhaps would be to have Tan Kheng Hua acting as Anna (aka Julia Roberts in the movie).

I happened to read off somewhere that it's actually her second time portraying the character of Anna, which is a good thing, given that she would need as much time as she could have to develop chemistry with the team (Emma Yong was the original Anna but fell sick and Tan Kheng Hua took over the role). 

Tan Kheng Hua's character stood out almost immediately while the rest of her peers paled in comparison when she was in the same frame as them. Her poise, mannerism, words and actions speak of Anna, an accomplished photographer who craves for love and yet is torn between desire and being loved. Basically, she is clueless of what she wants.

Keagan Kang, the prettiest face of the lot, is of course, Dan (aka Jude Law in the movie). His portrayal of Dan, was commendable as well, a barely scrapping by obituary writer who, like Anna, is constantly seeking of love and yet knows nothing of it.

Adrian Pang is... Adrian Pang. Well, he is Larry in the show (aka Clive Owen in the movie), but frankly speaking, I can only see the actor but not the character. Not that I know him personally, but his persona of Larry doesn't differ much from his other characters in other plays. Maybe... just an angrier Adrian Pang. And I have this personal thing against his accent.

His best scene would perhaps be the scene with Tan Kheng Hua at the apartment after he got back from a medical conference. You could almost see the flow of energy between the two characters during the confession scene, as Larry pushed harder and harder for details from Anna. Words, like lethal weapons, and they were stabbing each other with every question and corresponding answer.


Cynthia Lee MacQUARRIE as Alice, well... I'm not sure if that's the best choice, but I'm not sure of the options either, so I'm not really in the position to say if she's the most suitable or not. Sad to say, I felt that she was the weakest link out of the four characters. She tried, but I couldn't really connect to her character, especially so when I can't help to compare her with Natalie Portman. Alice, in my opinion is the strongest character of them all in the show. Of course not physically, but character wise, Alice is the strongest. She knows what she wants, she gives it all to get what she wants, and she is the one without second thoughts. Cynthia portrays Alice as she is, but there's so much more to this character than what we see and what we hear, and I think the depth was missing.

The plot, which we are all so familiar with, was not as tightly knit as I would liked it to be. But it was bearable most of the times. The stage design was clever, with shifts and modifications of simple props and backdrops to transform a bedroom to an aquarium.

All in all, the show was a commendable effort, but given the already well scripted words and characters which are full of personalities and conflicts, I would be expecting more from the show.


Pangdemonium, time for some original plays maybe?