The sombre Bumiputra Cina wore me down at times but, on the whole, I felt that this small, low-key play (staged after only eight rehearsals) examined the relationships Singaporeans have with their country with sincerity and earnestness, if not necessarily great theatricality and flair. The theme is a pertinent one in the context of our immigrant, multi-racial society - who can call himself a true Singaporean and what does that phrase even mean? - and I appreciated how playwright Verena Tay made the political personal with semi-autobiographical details being woven into her story about a contemporary Chinese Singaporean woman searching for her identity. I also liked how she opened up the narrative by introducing vignettes involving war hero Lt Adnan Saidi (who was born in Malaysia but died for Singapore), poetic monologues by the earth itself, etc. Her well-intentioned attempts at comedy, usually through self-deprecation, often felt awkward and a little too raw, though.
Noor Effendy Ibrahim's direction possessed a kinetic energy that kept the wordy play on its feet and he was aided by spirited performances from Rizman Putra and Shahril Wahid - they literally took to the air with their martial arts sequences. Tay was more successful as a writer than an actor, though - her performance was unpolished and while this was sometimes charming, at other points, she somehow came across as both guileless and self-conscious at the same time which made it difficult for us to empathize with her.