Theatre review: Like Me. I Like

SINGAPORE – Just how good of an actor is Member of Parliament Baey Yam Keng?

As it turns out, he is a decent actor, at least for someone who does not do it professionally. And you have to hand it to someone who can assume the lead role in a social media-themed charity play by theatre group The ETCeteras - despite only recently recovering from a bout of dengue the day before we caught this performance.

He was wonderfully suited to play his character – a reticent, slightly awkward office worker who cannot summon up the courage to express his feelings for his colleague, played by veteran deejay Foong Wai See. Baey’s performance, however, was not the main focus of the comedy.

Written and directed by Lim Hai Yen, Baey’s wife and artistic director of The ETCeteras, it revolves around a group of social media-obsessed workers in an advertising firm who really don’t get very much work done. Foong, who was magnetic on stage, did an admirable job with her role. Unfortunately, there was a certain lack of chemistry between Baey and Foong, as they did the “do you like me or not” dance over the course of the entire play. It was, in fact, Y.E.S. 93.3FM deejay Chung Kun Hua who stole the show in his role as the endearingly annoying mobile phone addict. Chung made his character come alive with his liveliness and easy manner, even though there wasn’t very much backstory for the audience to go on.

Like Me. I Like is a fairly amusing tale; and not just because of the novelty of seeing a politician in a play. Some of its jokes are a little hit-and-miss, but the play does its best to entertain and even takes potshots at Baey’s real-life penchant for selfies. Lim also, quite literally, brings social media to the stage, by broadcasting the characters’ WhatsApp messages, tweets and Facebook updates on large screens, although sadly, the words were sometimes a little too small to read.

The show is fun, doesn’t take itself too seriously and also invites you to reflect on the way technology has influenced your own relationships. And, really, where’s the harm in all that?

Like Me. I Like runs until tomorrow (Dec 7) at the SOTA Studio Theatre. Tickets from S$35 to s$88 at SISTIC.