Rising Son

I managed to catch Rising Son on 29th March 2014, the show's official opening night.

Rising son is part one of the Family Trilogy, featuring original plays written by acclaimed Singapore theatre stalwart Dick Lee. This is Dick Lee's first "serious" play that is also inspired by his father's life. It is set against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation in Katong, and tells a very unique story of his father, aunt and a Japanese army lawyer who lives next to them.

The reason why I said it is unique is because it provides a very different perspective and insight of what went on during the Japanese Occupation. Personally for me, I am born in the 90s where war seem something quite distant away. What exactly happened during the Japanese Occupation were mostly told to me from my grandparents. Those stories that I heard showed me how much fear and danger there were lurking every single day then. People were constantly living in fear. However, in this play, it presents a slightly different take on things. While acknowledging the prevalence of underlying fear and danger happening outside, it shows a somehow awkward but friendly relationship among the young Sunny Lee (played by Tan Shou Chen), his sister (played by Seong Hui Xuan) and their new Japanese neighbour Colonel Hiroyuki Sato (played by Caleb Goh) who was unlike the usual Japanese around. Sato san constantly sends food to Sunny's family and even lends him books to read. In exchange, Sunny lends Sato who has a love for music and literature English records to listen to. Sato was hardly the evil soldiers Sunny sees on the street, he was soft-spoken, courteous and even reads Shakespeare and poetry. Thus, Sunny was initially doubtful of Sato's actions, constantly fearing about what evil things Sato could do to them. As time goes by, an awkward friendship is formed between them. As much as Sunny wants to trust Sato, he is reminded of the fact that the Japanese where the colonists who broke and destroyed the peace and stability that was original present. This complex and conflicting relationship is one of the main highlight of this play.

This is definitely a refreshing story, especially when viewed by someone like me who is born in the 90s. The play has a great cast too. Caleb Goh who plays Colonel Hiroyuki Sato was quite outstanding. I felt that he handled his emotions well throughout this play, bringing the audience into his world of conflicts and emotions.

I highly recommend this play, especially since it is also an original Singapore play that is well-written.
Rising Son runs from Thursday 27th March to Saturday 12 April 2014 at the DBS Arts Centre at the Singapore Repertory Theatre.