The play began with Edward’s entrance from the back, adjusting his tie in the mirror. He was dressed in a black suit, which obviously fitted the context of the piece. He said nothing for at least five minutes walking about the stage examining everything. The silence itself captured the audience’s attention; one could almost hear his thoughts by watching his facial expressions, and in a strange way it became almost embarrassing to be intruding on this person’s grief as if it was a private moment, rather than a public performance. He eventually made his way towards the photograph, stared at it for a while, as if he is analysing every bit of the girl’s face, then he glanced away towards the flowers. By now the audience was on tenterhooks, the coughs and sniffs and throat-clearing had stopped, and he finally introduced us to his wife “Mary Jo”. What a powerful introduction!
He then began to tell us the story of her life, his own, how the two of them became intertwined and why they would be remembered as a special couple. He mentioned how he was an orphan who had grown up in a children’s home where he lived until he was eighteen. This is not what I would normally consider my favourite genre, but because Patrick Teoh is an amazing actor, and because he had been so well directed (by Gavin Yap) I was enthralled by the unfolding story. Patrick’s skill was highlighted in his ability to control the pathos of the performance, building up the tension to several heart-wrenching climaxes. I looked around and several of the more sensitive people watching had tears in their eyes at some points. Only a truly accomplished actor could create this realism.
There were several drama techniques used during the course of this play, not only silence, which really gripped the audience. When Patrick Teoh was acting you could really believe that he was feeling what he was saying and he made it very convincing. This made the performance really strong and realistic. He even cried at one point, which just added intensity to the piece and was very effective. He paused in the right places; this made it more appealing to watch, rather than simply listening to a boring monologue. He made the piece flow very swiftly, by using different tones and gestures. There were several techniques used such as Edward using a lot of facial expressions such as raising his eyebrows and screwing up his face to show his multiple emotions: grief, annoyance and frustration with the non-existent funeral guests, for example. He even shouted angrily at the guests through the door he had originally entered, using a clever off-stage convention. He used fast and slow movements and he used space very well. Intertwined into the piece was a flashback. At first one wasn’t sure but then one began to understand as he was speaking. He made this seem very realistic as if it was happening at the time. He used repetition such as “indeed”. Swearing was only used when necessary which was good because excessive swearing could have ruined the piece. The actor used a lot of sarcasm and cracked a few jokes during the performance, “she regretted most of her life, well the first half anyway!”
In the middle of the play Edward told the audience that there was a secret that his wife whispered in his ear just before she passed away, but he did not reveal the secret immediately. By letting the audience know this, he kept them on their toes, making them want to know what it was. From that point onwards everyone knew there was a twist, but they didn’t know exactly what it was until the end. This produced a dramatic climax which really made the piece accelerate.
Revelation….. He explained what his wife said: her uncle had raped her and she had become pregnant. When the baby was born she gave it away and she had never told anyone. Then as the story started to unfold, the audience were taken to the highest stage of anticipation. He finally surprised everyone by saying “She was my mum”. This particular scene created a moment of high dramatic tension and the shock made the audience feel many different emotions.
This play includes a mixture of comedy, romance, mystery and tragedy. It left the audience rather stunned – it was certainly not a ‘feel good’ play, in fact one could even say it was slightly depressing but thrilling at the same time. I think this is why it had such an impact on me.
By Jessie Addington
