Roman Tam & The 3 Bears

Roman Tam & The 3 Bears | Between Chinas | Everything But The Brain | Ticketing Info | Book Now

EVERYTHING BUT THE BRAIN

• The Synopsis
• About the Playwright
• Conversation with the Playwright
• The Cast of Between Chinas



Everything But The Brain: Synopsis

Everything But The Brain is about a Physics teacher who, upon learning that her father is dying, tries to turn back Time, using her knowledge of the Theory of Relativity.

About The Playwright



Jean Tay graduated in 1997 with a double-degree in creative writing and economics from Brown University, USA. For her fiction, she was awarded Weston Prize for Fiction from Brown, as well as the 1st and 3rd prizes for NAC's Golden Point Short Story competition in 1995 and 2001 respectively. Her plays have been produced in festivals in the US and in Singapore. Plays produced include: Plunge, Swallowed Seed, Hopper's Women (co-written with Cindy Koh), Water from the Well, and The Knot. The last was awarded 1st prize for Action Theatre's 10-minute Play Competition in 2000 and selected as a finalist for the Actors Theatre of Louisville's 10-minute Play Contest. Hopper’s Women was nominated for Life! Theatre Awards for Best Script in 2000.

Conversation with the Playwright

1. What is your play about?

The basic storyline is about Elaine, a middle-aged, unmarried Physics teacher, who has to take care of her father after he suffers from a stroke. Desperate, she turns to Physics to find a solution, and comes up with a plan to literally turn back Time… otherwise known as the Theory of Relativity. This leads to a whimsical train ride of a journey through her memories of her father, even as she struggles to come to terms with his physical deterioration and inevitable death. Into this mix come a chorus of three bears and a dashing young surgeon, to add a bit more spice to her life.

2. Why did you decide to write this play?

As a student, I’d always thought of Physics as boring, but then the Special Theory of Relativity was explained to me using the metaphor of three bears on a train, and I was hooked! I realized that the possibilities that Physics opens up are no less than magical than the fairytales that we grew up on. Especially the thought of it being literally possible to turn back time. I also remembered, as a child, the desperation one felt at the prospect of losing a parent, and it didn’t seem so impossible, that someone would attempt to physically turn back, or at least slow down time, so as to save a dying parent. And that’s how the play came about.

3. What are the issues/themes that you want to explore with it?

One of the themes I wanted to explore was the bond between family members that makes us capable of great, unconditional love, but that also renders us entirely capable of taking that kind of love for granted. In particular, I wanted to write about the challenges faced by caregivers, where the work is thankless and routine, and very often unappreciated, to the point where their love is almost completely overwhelmed by a sense of obligation and even guilt. This is compounded by the pain of seeing their loved ones decaying before their very eyes, such as in the case of a stroke, where the person’s personality could be locked up within a paralyzed body.

Also, I wanted to write about a protagonist well past her prime, who has felt that she has wasted the best years of her life, and is full of regrets about missed opportunities and “what ifs” In this case, the inexorable march of time is truly frightening, not just in the aging of her father, but also because of the toll it takes on herself and her own chances for love. Then, the fight to turn back time becomes even more desperate and personal, even as she starts to realize the futility of it.

4. If you can turn back time, you would…

The idea of going back in time and changing the past is such a tempting one… My imagination has always been preoccupied by the “what-ifs” in life… Yet, I feel remarkably blessed when I think about where I am today, even if my journey here wasn’t the smoothest. So if I really could turn back time, I probably wouldn’t change a thing, but I’d make sure to go back and literally relive the best moments of my life.

5. A chorus of three bears is featured in your play. Why the three bears?

Because that’s really what I see now, when I think about relativity. And it’s that mixture of Physics and fairy tale that make them so familiar, yet so magical.

6. Relatives and Theory of Relativity. What’s harder to understand and why?

Definitely relatives. I have a better chance at figuring out the special and general theories of relativity than I do my relatives.

7. Tell us about your dad and your relationship with him.

My dad is a fantastic person, and we get along really well. On the outside, he might appear quiet and serious, but he’s a very intelligent man with a great sense of humour, and always capable of cracking me up. Of course, some of him crept into the character of the father in the play, such as his stoicism and his deadpan humour. I like to think that it’s part of what I inherited from him.

8. When you think of Physics, you think of…

Experiments in the Physics laboratory back in secondary school. The copper wired circuit boards always seemed boring compared with those bubbling, exploding solutions you got in Chemistry class.

9. When you think of family, you think of…

Those wonderful and imperfect people who love me unconditionally and impossibly, in spite of myself.




The cast of Everything But The Brain

Playing the lead role of Elaine is local theatre veteran Pam Oei. The other cast members are Gerald Chew, Brendon Fernandez, Koh Chieng Mun (Under One Roof), Chermaine Ang (Boeing Boeing) and Filomar Tariao.

Conversation with Pam Oei
 

A veteran in the local theatre scene, Pam’s numerous stage credits include The Revenge of the Dim Sum Dollies, Dim Sum Dollies in Steaming!, Animal Farm (including New Zealand Arts Festival Tour), The Eleanor Wong Trilogy : Invitation to Treat – Jointly & Severably, Boeing Boeing, Blithe Spirit, Lady Soul and the Ultimate S Machine, Mee Pok Man - The Play, Painted Stories - Hopper’s Women, Titoudao, Ah Kong’s Birthday Party, Balls, The Yang Family, Broken Birds, Agnes of God and A Night Out With Michael Chiang. She has also appeared in the musicals Mortal Sins and Haunted. In 2001, she played Joanne in Broadway musical Rent (Singapore) to rave reviews.

1. If you can turn back time, you would...

Eat durians with my parents for an entire day, who have both passed away.

2. Relatives and Theory of Relativity, what's harder to understand and why?
Relatives. Because there is no formula to predict how they will behave, especially in unpleasant situations

3. When you think of Physics, you think of…

My A Level grades, where I scored a D. Should have taken literature, man!

4. When you think of family, you think of...

My brother who is my only immediate blood relation left. And my close friends, who love me unconditionally

5. How's rehearsal so far?

It's been a great relief for me to be able to express my work in English again after a long time working on Chinese TV. It's also my first collaboration with Krishen, whom I've wanted to work with for a long, long time. He's an actor's director and I'm falling in love with him big time, as I knew I would.

6. How do you prepare for your role?

I've been digging up my reserve of memories of my dad, who was also a stroke patient. It's been easy and hard - Easy because I have been through everything Elaine goes through and the benefit of my personal experience has helped a lot. It's also been hard, because I miss my dad very much and some scenes are very resonant of what I went through with him. Like fighting with him over what he could or could not eat. We've had many, many fights over nonya kueh, which he secretly ate when I was out of the house, which I eventually found out about through my maid at the time, who was my spy.

7. If you could, is there any experience of losing or nearly losing a loved one to illnesses in real life that you could share with us?

The feeling of loss is utterly devastating, and the situation irreversable. And the sadness stays with you forever. The way you deal with it changes with time of course, but there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of my parents. We were a close-knit family and we laughed a lot together. I miss that the most. I often wish I could call them, wherever they are, but nobody seems to have the number.

To read about other play featured in Roman Tam & The 3 Bears, click here.

Roman Tam & The 3 Bears | Between Chinas | Everything But The Brain | Ticketing Info | Book Now