The Parting Glass
Gateway Arts
Sept 3, 8pm
The Blackbird
Jim has an archetypal machismo about him. He has inherited his father’s penchant for the earnest dad joke, is prone to peacocking in front of a love interest and has the emotional expressiveness of a beer can. Ask about his lowest moment, and he would probably narrate the football game where his team lost a penalty shoot-out.
But beneath the trappings of modern masculinity, Jim cannot find the language to express his pain and loneliness. In Gateway Arts’ The Parting Glass, written by Chris O’Connor and directed by Samantha Scott-Blackhall, the men’s mental health chamber drama is taken out of the solemnity of the black box or theatre and well massaged into a site-specific play.
Scott-Blackhall’s choice to set the play at live music bar The Blackbird is an inspired choice. After all, a bar is the perfect setting to stage the contradictions of masculinity – one of modern life’s few public places where men are allowed to express their emotions, even if only over 90 minutes of ball kicking. Jim, cycling through Heinekens and Tigers, does not consider himself an alcoholic – when he compares himself to what he has, as a child, seen his father down in this bar.
Gateway Arts’ two hander The Parting Glass at live music bar The Blackbird features Juliana Kassim Chan (left) and Rishi Vadrevu.
PHOTO: GATEWAY ARTS
Played with verve and natural charm by young actor Rishi Vadrevu, Jim can command the bar like a seasoned stand-up comedian but also morph into a thumb-twiddling young adult finally able to confide in a crowd of friends. Strutting convincingly across the bar and stage, one gets the sense that Jim is a regular at the bar.
Jim is clearly the show’s star, but the two-hander is rounded off by Juliana Kassim Chan – Jim’s love interest whose character can feel underwritten, mostly serving Jim’s narrative. She feels a bit of an outsider at the bar – clearly not as seasoned a commander of the bar as Jim – but organises a 30th birthday party for Jim at his old hangout. Attendees of the show are the party guests, but there is none of the trite interactive gimmicks of dinner theatre or – this may come to a relief to the anti-social in the house – much real interaction with the audience at all.
Theatremaker Krish Natarajan has splendidly localised O’Connor’s script, making Jim boogie along to Tamil tunes and Scottish drinking songs. There is a sly wink to the possible closure of the bar as Gillman Barracks, where The Blackbird is located, is slated for redevelopment. Convincingly detailed with Singaporean-isms, it gives Jim’s character a warmth that audiences can immediately relate to.
Petrina Dawn Tan’s set design involves a lovely, understated tree structure in the middle of the room, but it is unfortunately underutilised though the show and might cause restricted views at the back of the room.
Jim is clearly the show’s star, but the two-hander is rounded off by Juliana Kassim Chan – Jim’s love interest whose character can feel underwritten, mostly serving Jim’s narrative.
PHOTO: GATEWAY ARTS
It is best to come early for dinner before the show begins at 8pm – ticket prices do not include food or beverage, and food and drinks can only be served before the show or after. But come early also to choose the best seats – which are at the front row or on the side of stage right, where much of the off-stage action happens. The bar stools are not easy to tolerate for 75 minutes of sitting still, so pick the cushioned seats if possible.
Book It/The Parting Glass
Where: The Blackbird, Gillman Barracks, 8 Lock Road
When: Till Sept 13, various timings
Admission: $45, eligible for Culture Pass credits; food and drink not included in the ticket
Info: gatewayarts.sg/portfolio/the-parting-glass/