Girl, 14, and Boy, 21, have been estranged for seven years. They are reunited now on the death of their mother, who has died by suicide. Because they have been apart for so long, they have to get to know each other all over again. Boy has joined a gang, which gives him a sense of belonging and they support him in all of his schemes to make money. Girl wants desperately to move to Australia to save the koalas. Their dreams don’t really mesh, but Boy needs somewhere to live and even though he hates the house their mother has left behind, it will do for now. While he works to get rich beyond their family’s wildest dreams.
Merlynn
Tong’s Golden Blood is set in Singapore and shows us a side of that
country most of us would not be familiar with. The dialogue is in Singlish
– a form of English used there, which helps to really ground us in that place.
The synopsis of this play emphasises an exploration of the country’s seedy
underbelly. And the opening paragraph of this review probably suggests the play
is very heavy. It’s not. It’s very funny. Boy and Girl’s separate and
conflicting aspirations put them at odds in a comic way. And the examination of
their family life and trying to recreate cultural traditions without really
understanding them is a rich source of humour.
Writer Tong
stars as Girl and has to play her as a wide-eyed child, as well as the
character’s evolution from fourteen to 21. She’s more confident with the
comedic turns of the character – her love of marsupials, Dance Dance Revolution
and karaoke are never not funny. Charles Wu’s Boy is full of bravado and the
confidence of a young man with his whole life ahead of him. He’s not entirely
convincing as the member of a street gang, but his performance made me wonder
if his talk of fights and crime are part of a persona he’s created to keep
himself safe. Boy is a convincing schemer, though – talking so fast about how
he’s going to make millions is the character’s central driving force and his
fatal flaw.
Michael
Hankin’s set is striking, with a sloped golden floor and bright boxes that play
as a liminal space between childhood and adulthood, life and death, dancing and
not dancing. Rainbow Chan’s music and sound design is party one minute and
disconcerting the next. Because underneath the reality of the situation, Boy
and Girl are plagued by the ghosts of their family’s past – sometimes
figuratively and sometimes literally. Fausto Brusamolino’s lighting is bold and
in a number of striking moments, very precise and affecting.
After being
amused by the rapport between Girl and Boy throughout much of the play, the
late turn into full drama, trying to extract more and more emotion with
revelations and trauma, didn’t quite work for me. The threats from the gang never
seem real. The collapse of the siblings’ business enterprise in the final
section amps up an outside threat, when the real conflict is between the two
characters.
The play is partly biographical, though it quickly spins away from the reality of the writer’s actual family life. The text is rich in its detailed depiction of liiving in Singapore and the characters’ fantasies of what living in Australia would be like. Sometimes the characters feel like fish-out-of-water in Singapore, since their heritage is Chinese. To have them aspire to a dreamlike Australia that doesn’t exist makes it a beautiful melding of cultures and fantasies. This combination of background and experience makes it feel fresh, unique. Specificity is key.
But the plot, to me, tread some very well-worn territory. Being overly ambitious can lead to ruin. Being in a criminal enterprise will eventually come back to bite you. Sometimes family is the worst thing for you.
Tong’s
script was first developed in conjunction with MTC’s Cybec Reading series
before being produced at Griffin Theatre in 2022. It has also played at Sydney
Theatre Company this year before travelling to Melbourne, where it all started.
I’m glad to
have seen it. I just wish I’d been moved beyond being buoyed by laughter
through the first two-thirds of the show, only to be left to languish in
melodrama at the end.
- Keith Gow, Theatre First
Golden Blood is at Fairfax Studio at Melbourne Arts Centre until November 30
Photos: Prudence Upton
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