Okiku: A Post-Mortem Uncovered
Okiku: A Tragedy Retold was staged in January 2007 at KLPac. This debut theatrical piece by Tourquinet Productions was based on the famous Japanese folk legend of a beautiful servant girl who commits suicide after being accused of a misdeed she didn’t commit, and continues to plead her innocence even from beyond the grave. Directors Kimmy Kiew and Fang Chyi reminisce on the project.
What inspired you to take on such an unconventional genre of theatre?
Kimmy: When Fang spoke to me about the concept of "sensory theatre", I got so excited because it was something I had been hoping to venture into for a long time. It’s a challenge to do horror in theatre, and we’ve learned that the only way to be good at it is to try it out!
Fang: It is not something within my comfort zone, it is challenging, it is not the norm and most of all, I found that this project opened up to a lot of creative experimentations and opportunities. Other than borrowing Okiku's name and its well known story, everything else was original - script, music and set, for example.
Which element of the legend of Okiku are you most drawn to?
K: The reflection of humanity's weaknesses such like desire, seduction, selfishness etc… that drove all the characters to a tragic end.
F: The fact that there are so many versions of the tale through the centuries, and they are all equally intriguing and mysterious.
It's rare for a theatre production to have 2 directors. Was there a lot of creative conflict between the two of you?
K: Surprisingly, no. Whenever we had different thoughts on something, we’d just sit down and analyze what would be good for the play, then a mutual decision would just come naturally. It felt amazing that at some points, we had the same idea to put into the play without even discussing it with each other beforehand.
F: We’d be two people with views from different angles of the same thing. There’s a thin line between conflict and having differences... we chose to iron out our differences and got rid of possible conflicts. There were not many problems as Kimmy and I had been on the 'same page' since the birth of this project.
Name three emotions or thoughts running through your head as you sat in the audience watching your own production.
K: Nervousness on opening night, but of course my actors wouldn’t have known about it until now – oops! Tension, but only when mistakes happen on stage. And I was very touched. Like when one of the shows that had the smallest audience turned out to be the best, and for the last show, when I was really thankful to everyone involved and it was hard to believe we all made it through til the end.
F: It's a whole cocktail of emotions... three just won't be enough to list them all! Nervousness, praying that all technical work ran smoothly and that the actors are focused. Pride, to have an opportunity to share this project with everyone. Curiosity, of what was going through everyone's head while watching it.
What has been the most memorable aspect of the Okiku experience that you've taken home?
K: The progress we made right til the end of the production. Like any other production, problems may arise but it’s all about learning to be calm in order to sort them out.
F: Fear. It can be a strong motivator... and I am not talking about the supposed 'horror' factor of the play. Being out of one's comfort zone can make one feel surprisingly alive; if not more alert!
Alterations
Sometime late last year, I appeared as a print advertisement talent for a grocery store product. The shoot went smoothly enough, although as it is with all commercial shoots, a lot of emphasis was put on visual precision; a slight tilt of the head or twist of the wrist would suddenly speak a completely different language.
A few months later, I was informed that the print materials had been put up inside a nearby shopping mall. Curious to check out the miracles of airbrushing, I scouted around for it and saw more than what I had bargained for. Apart from the flawless glow of its visage and blinding gloss of its hair, I had noticed that the plasticized version of me had been given a ‘boost’ in a particular bodily department, and a ‘reduction’ in another. My chest was pumped to a C-cup, and my slightly bulging triceps were sliced clean off.
For all the Ken-izens in Barbie Land, it sounds like the sort of image that would send their salivary glands on overdrive. Elewhere in Anal-ville, someone’s head was reaching an alarming temperature as she stood in front of a portrait she couldn’t bring herself to recognize.
I do admit there have been days when I catch myself thinking how nice it would be to do a little more justice to a plunging neckline. But during the other 99.9% of the time where societal pressure is as trifling as a bruise on a banana, I very much appreciate the androgynous build I’ve been born into. To have someone not only disrespect that, but to also project to the public his or her own idea of what I should be looking more like and pass it off as a reality, is a figurative slap in the face, trip of the ankle, granny-panties-wedgie combo.
Then again, do I have a say in it? After all, I had willingly offered my physical image to the advertisement’s clients who then had the authority to do whatever was needed to make sure their product would sell. Worse still (and it petrifies me to admit this), if I had known beforehand that my image was going to be manipulated in such a manner, I wonder if I still would have taken up the job for job’s sake anyway to help pay for the bills…
I love my body too much to get paranoid about it, but I’ve found out the hard way that working in the unpredictable world of media, you’ll never know when the next powers-that-be will push the envelope of shallowness a little further than expected, and from right under your idiosyncratically beautiful nose.
