A review by nathansnook
Collected Plays One by Alfian Sa'at

emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.0

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺: A strong collage of plays that speaks to the ethos of Sa’at’s investigations into the human condition. He plays with the unconventional, disregarding expectations and surprising us with the vulnerabilities of his characters.

𝘍𝘶𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 + 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬: Centering around the displacement of what it means to be Singaporean, to be an expat in the confines of a country raptured in a love/hate relationship. People snap. Emotions bend. The soul is elastic, but is anything fixed? Sa’at is honest about his feelings about Singapore as he tackles what it means to be a citizen here. 

𝘴𝘦𝘹.𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥.𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘦: The most experimental out of the bunch with a killer robot, Japanese soldiers, and trannies. All feed into the playful nature Sa’at writes in, but the weakest out of the bunch as the themes don’t coverage into anything particular. Everything feels scattered and tackles the idea of Singapore from outside of the square without really tackling anything at all. If anything, Scene 5 is the strongest as it leads into 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘴 2 with much ease.