Check(mate) your Privilege

It's one thing to write a review for an Imperial College student production. It's another thing to write a review for such a show you've personally been involved in for two years (both in acting and production) - and therefore already know the good/bad/ugly that comes with it. You find your pride and bias as an insider/alumnus of said production ("oh it was amazing and we could do no wrong!") grapples with your professional view as a neutral outsider with prior external stage experience. Still, that was the situation I willingly put myself in when I made a snap decision to attend Malaysian Society's MNight this year - this time as an audience member with no involvement.

If you haven't seen the infamously-vandalized poster located in the 4th floor of Central Library that's made the rounds on Facebook, ICU MNight is an annual 2-day production that takes place in the Great Hall. It's a showcase of Malaysian culture and quirks wrapped up in an acting and dancing extravaganza, with tickets for both nights selling out. This year's production was titled Checkmate, directed by Pashiini Supramaniam and Shi Kai Wei whilst being produced by Wee Kii Teh and En Lin Goh.

I took my seat in the packed hall minutes before the emcees - Clayton Qwah and Jia Sheng Lee (two of my fellow MNight 2012 alumni!) - made their entrance. With light-hearted humor and a good dose of cringe-yet-clever punnery, the duo set the stage(ha!) for the rest of the show, bringing audience energy levels up. They then made way for a spectacular opening dance filled with stunning shadow imagery, which started the show with a bang - whilst also introducing the plot and depicting some key characters.

The play revolves around a decade-long conflict between two fictional countries, Bolehland (pronounced bo-lay-h-land) and Kiasuland (kee-ah-soo-land) - a reference to the friendlier "rivalry" between Malaysia and neighbouring Singapore. With both countries' royal families having suffered casualties in the war, a temporary truce is called. The Bolehland princes - Fitzgerald (Jae Hann Lim) and Edward (Edward Tan) - travel to meet the newly-coronated Kiasuland king, the hilariously quirky Raja Kingthik (Kharthik Chakravarthy) and his bubbly yet unrefined niece Princess Seraphina (Sharon Fu) for peace treaty negotiations.

Opposing idealogies between the princely siblings - cynical elder Fitz believes in war, younger naive Ed lives by diplomatic negotiation - served as a constant source of tension that underpinned the whole play, with hidden assassination agendas from their father (the duplicitous King Kang Kung, played by Wei Jian Tan) threatening to rear their ugly head. During their visit, Prince Fitz and Princess Seraphina fall for each other, rendering the prince torn between his ideals of a hostile Kiasuland takeover and his desire to keep the princess happy. Drama rollercoaster all around, we say!

Despite the somber theme, the show was a barrel of laughs - just the way MNight traditionally is. It certainly wouldn't be an ICU MSoc production without the customary political jibes, inclusion of Manglish (Malaysian pidgin/slang) or pop culture references, and this year didn't disappoint. Cheeky homages were paid to prior Malaysian political gaffes (like the Sharifah Jahbeen "Listen Listen Listen" debacle) and neighbouring Singapore's quirks, plus an unexpected Doge reference had everyone in stitches. With a great mix of slapstick humor and cleverly subtle double entendres (like a noteworthy "gun-polishing" moment between Fitz and Ed), the audience's funny bones got their fair share of attention.

The whole cast's acting was highly natural and a delight to watch, though special mention has to be given to the princes' assistants - Kieran (Dustin Chung) and Lyra (Sonali Nadkarni.) These supporting characters served as effective comic relief and the perfect foils to the more-serious characters in the plot, with stellar slapstick-acting that stole the show. The Narrator (Wui Shen Ng) also deserves kudos for his clear, perfect diction and highly expressive "radio-friendly" voice throughout the play - even if we didn't see him acting onstage until his monologue at the very end.

Scene transitions involved a wide variety of cultural dances, ranging from Broadway to hip-hop to even Chinese Lion dance and traditional Silat (Malay martial arts.) The choreography was top notch, with flawless execution from the dancers. At one point during the post-intermission Dikir Barat (a traditional Malay musical dance form), the audience got to enjoy a parody of Blurred Lines, where the lyrics included some cheeky bashing of rival universities - much to everyone's delight, non-Imperialites included. The music team provided the perfect cherry on top; live instrumentals peppered throughout the play ably emphasized the relevant moods.

At the end, with the two kings having been assassinated, the deceptively-sanguine (now Queen) Seraphina was revealed to have masterminded the deaths. This disturbing penny-drop moment came with the revelation that she had struggled for ages knowing that Kingthik had killed her war-loving father, and was merely fighting for the same ideals (two united countries) as the princes - giving the audience a chance to empathize with her actions. In a cruel twist of fate both lovers ended up dead - one at the hands of the other, denying the audience a happy ending and leaving them shell-shocked.

Given the nature of such a production - where most of the cast (all freshers!) and crew have minimal (or even no) stage experience, there were a few snags to be expected. Some scene changes were not as fluid and snappy as hoped, and there were certain times where the acting was slightly contrived, or the pacing felt rather draggy.

Despite that, it was fabulous overall. Imperial's MNight is unique in that it also has to cater to more non-Malaysians than other MNights in the country (it's 2 nights as opposed to just 1.) It’s not an easy task given the cultural differences; Malaysians tend to approach/appreciate stage productions very differently to the British - but the cast and crew managed, taking care of both fellow countrymen and the non-Malaysians very well in the process. As an MNight alumnus, I was proud of what the younger generation pulled off that night, and how hard they worked for it. As that uninvolved audience member? I'll quote what Princess/Queen Seraphina herself said: "Wow, much deep. So amaze."