It’s hard to believe that Timeless Women, the piece that won our Playwriting Competition, was Pang Hui Bin Gabrielle’s (Singapore) first foray into the genre. No doubt, though, it’s her love for reading and watching plays that gave her entry a sophistication and depth that’s surprising in a piece from a first-time playwright. As Gabrielle proves, immersion in a genre is essential to good writing!
Read on to discover Gabrielle’s writing process, which plays she recommends, and who she would cast in her play.
Was this your first foray into playwriting? How did you prepare to write it?
Timeless Women is indeed my first attempt at crafting a play, but definitely not my first time encountering plays. In my secondary level of education ( from ages 13–16), it was mandatory for us to watch at least two plays together as a cohort; one in English, and the other in our mother tongue (which in my case is Mandarin Chinese). I am very grateful for these opportunities because I would still feel nothing towards the art form without this exposure.
The first Singaporean play I watched during those years was what inspired the process of writing Timeless Women, despite the discrepancy between the individual plots. It was something in the playful ease that was communicated between characters, the poignancy in momentary silences, and the power of everyday life that I took to almost immediately. I wanted others to feel what I felt in a single sitting. I wanted people to feel the simplicity, and how it could be extraordinary. Of course, the cultural flavour had a part to play as well. Growing up, I always thought of our cultural lingo, Singlish (an amalgam of mainly English, Malay, Chinese, and other dialects), as an obstruction that would deter our learning of proper English and I was not particularly proud of it. However, over the years, I have realised its irreplaceable quality. I just would not be able to achieve the same satisfying piquancy that Singlish conveys if I were to use English in its purest form. To be honest, using it made the writing process more comforting and enjoyable, because it was as if I could see them acting and speaking on their own. For a short moment, it felt like instead of writing a play, I was watching it unfold by itself with the same tenderness of the one I had first watched.
Guest judge Kim Peter Kovac said, “In three short scenes over four pages, she has created a portrait of three generations of women in a family.” How did you manage to say so much in so few words?
It is very difficult to balance the intended effect with word limit, because most of us always have so much to say, but there will always be a time when we have to ‘kill our darlings.’ It’s crucial to focus on the crux of your piece.
I made it a point to be extremely clear in what I wanted to portray and cut out anything that wasn’t contributing to that. One way I did this was through parallelism between scenes. They all open in similar ways, which incites subconscious questions in the audience as well as a sense of the changes the various characters have undergone before they even enter. In the second scene, I wanted to make the argument about the ceiling fan seem ordinary, but at the same time, show the Old Woman’s awareness of her impending death.
In addition, I wanted to portray a never-ending cycle that links back to the play’s title. Despite the absence of the Old Woman in the last scene, I wanted to provide a hopeful closure. In the last line, the Young Girl suddenly calls her mother ‘Ma’ instead of ‘Mom,’ in hopes of reaching out to her. Of course, they mean the same thing, but at the same time, they are not entirely identical. I wanted the audience to see the resemblance of the Young Girl to her own mother, and possibly to her mother before her. I wanted to convey that the Old Woman is still with her family, because one day, they will become mothers, grandmothers, and leave their place for the next member of the family. They are all timeless.
If you could cast this play with actors, who would you pick to play each role?
I would have to choose my own friends, because the performances put up by the Drama Club in my secondary school enhanced my relationship with plays and there is an unmistakable warmth in watching my friends perform. My friends are all roughly the same age, but I have absolute faith that they would be able to play the characters. Plus, I would be able to have a good laugh and feel right at home during the performance; there is no surpassing that!
What are some of your favorite plays?
- This Chord and Others by Haresh Sharma
This is the very first Singaporean play I saw, and I took most of my inspiration from it. Tension builds between three friends when an office promotion, as well as their personal lives, affect their perceptions of society. Heartwarming, poignant, and relatable, this play presents questions about race, religion, and coexisting in the melting pot of Singapore. Additionally, three actors play the roles of not only the main characters but also the supporting characters!
- Lanterns Never Go Out by Haresh Sharma
Watching my friends from the Drama Club perform this was far from disappointing. I think this would be easy to digest for those who are not familiar with Singapore’s culture and context because it deals with universal experiences such as childhood, innocence, and the responsibilities that come with growing up.
- Prism of Truth ‘眾相’ by Zelda Tatiana Ng & A Yagnya
This one is highly interactive. The audience sits in the centre of the stage and faces different directions to watch different scenes. They also follow the investigation of a crime scene on Facebook. Performed mainly in Mandarin Chinese, with a touch of English and Chinese dialects, this play dabbles in the themes of fact and fiction and the nature of truth.
- The Village ‘宝岛一村’ by Stan Lai
This play is entirely in Mandarin Chinese, and if I remember correctly, only features a bit of English. Following the joys and trials of three families over three generations, the play captures the true spirit of village communities in Taiwan and hints at the rapid disappearance of this culture. It’s reminiscent of the “kampong spirit” that Singapore tries to maintain, so it hits close to home.
- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
This play seemed absolutely absurd when I first read it. It portrayed so many strange arguments that I had to re-read specific parts to understand what was happening in greater detail. It touches on the concept of coping mechanisms, broken realities, and the roles that we choose to play in order to get through life. The audience questions the things that characters say throughout the play, yet realises the severity of the truth in the denouement. The 1966 film adaptation, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton is exceptional, so if you prefer watching instead of reading, I highly recommend it!
- Shakespeare in the Park: Julius Caesar directed by Guy Unsworth
It goes without saying that if you want to learn more about plays, you absolutely have to watch at least one Shakespeare play. However, if you find the old English difficult, this modern twist is an entertaining alternative. Although the general storyline is the same, it’s updated to modern society, reminding us that the themes Shakespeare dealt with are timeless. And if you think that modern English may affect the quality of the experience, I have to tell you that every single member of the audience burst out into claps and unwavering support at the line “Et tu, Brute?” which was exactly how it was written.
