Alfian Sa’at thinks retrospectives are ‘a bit scary’

He’s known for making bold statements with his work, but it turns out Wild Rice resident playwright Alfian Sa’at is actually — some might say — uncharacteristically — coy when it comes to talking about Alfian Sa’at: In The Spotlight, a 17-day festival of sorts celebrating his career.

In fact, Alfian admitted that he was a bit “overwhelmed” and “embarrassed” in promoting a festival dedicated to showcasing his work.

“To deflect the attention, I sometimes say that this is not the Alfian Sa’at festival but it’s actually the budget Singapore Theatre Festival,” he quipped, referring to the biennial festival that was put on hold, due to a lack of funding.

Be that as it may, In The Spotlight will present three works: A new play, Cook A Pot Of Curry, and two revivals that have not been staged in Singapore for over a decade. And the retrospective, he confessed, can be “a bit scary” as it will be a test of whether his work is “able to endure”.

A prolific playwright, Alfian’s plays have a reputation of being politically and socially charged. When asked about this label of being a “political” playwright, Alfian said that he doesn’t reject it, “as long as he isn’t stereotyped”. For example, one of the revivals, The Optic Trilogy, a very lyrical work, is on the surface a “romantic duet between a couple”.

“While some might consider this to be more personal than political, I feel that all writing is political,” he said.

Such a perception is also due to his plays having the tendency to explore the taboo topics of Singapore. He mentions the need to be “artful” when presenting issues that are “new to public consciousness”, where tools like satire can be employed.

As a result, “you’re a lot more nimble and that happens because your work can be read on multiple levels”, he said.

Cook A Pot Of Curry, his latest play, focuses on the topic of immigration —and its title is a nod to a familiar issue concerning two neighbours that made the news a couple of years ago. It’s done documentary-style, much like his previous play Cooling-off Day. Alfian doesn’t see the messiness of such a format being a problem because the presentation of it can be a “ragbag” of opinions, but not without focus as his voice is largely shown through the act of “curating” this piece.

Ultimately, he hopes that the play will be able to put a face to the conversations and the people involved in these conversations, Singaporean and foreigner alike. “I think what’s most important for me in doing this (play) is that you have real people who are sharing their life experiences, and that this kind of context is what humanises the discourse.”

For our complete interview, visit For Art’s Sake (http://tdy.sg/artssakeblog).

Alfian Sa’at – In the Spotlight is from July 3 to 20 at Lasalle College of the Arts. It includes workshops and free stagings of the play Cooling-off Day. Tickets for the three plays are from S$40 in Sistic.