Jazz lovers are in for a treat: Robin Goh's solo renditions of pieces like Under My Skin and Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered are pure, mellow and stirring, accompanied evocatively by Julian Wong on the grand piano. Pure drama people, however, may find the play more difficult, as it only comes alive in the second half, when the protagonist's body is suddenly possessed by the soul of his deceased lover. Only then does Goh stop holding himself back; only then does he truly engage with the audience in his speeches, charming us with swingier numbers, mesmerising us with strange stories of the afterlife.
Production values are high: the set of naked light bulbs, joss stick and bonsai tree is breathtaking in its simplicity. Overall, however, the effect is once of distance - playwright Bryan Tan assigns no names or cultural markers to his characters, filling their mouths instead with overblown eloquence: metaphors of "misty wilderness" and "strange, forbidden fruit". It's a relaxing one-hour evening of music and storytelling, but don't expect anything raw or gripping or heart-stopping. In short, don't expect anything conventionally dramatic.