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Edinburgh Fringe 2024

Forked

Jo Tan

Genre: New Writing, Solo Show, Theatre

Venue: Summerhall

Festival:


Low Down

In this sharply observed journey of a young Singaporean woman coming to London with dreams of drama school and life in Notting Hill, Jo Tan, a talented writer and performer delivers a thought-provoking, captivating, and emotionally layered exploration of culture, laced with laughter and skilled caricature.

Review

FORKED by Jo Tan is her theatrical debut in the UK. It depicts a journey of a young Singaporean woman, Jeanette Peh, leaving her life in Singapore behind for her dreams at a drama school in the UK, yet finding that she does not belong there. It is based on Tan’s real-life experience at the renowned French clown school, École Philippe Gaulier. In this solo 70-minute performance, with the action moved to Notting Hill. Tan, a Singaporean artist, explores the many layers of cultural and emotional differences between her home and London.

Her love for England, nurtured from afar, begins as excitement and gradually dissolves into disillusionment as she experiences the country’s reality.

By turns laugh out loud funny and gut wrenchingly painful the story unfolds as a poignant exploration of the gap between the dream of a perfect life in London and the harsher reality she encounters. She paints a vivid picture of her character’s internal struggles: desperate to succeed at drama school and become an actor, trying to please the tutor that she idolises and make sense of the other cultures she encounters in her fellow students, spanning Manchester, China and the US.

These characters around Tan embody fractures of ethnicity, culture, and geography, creating a rich tapestry of diverse perspectives. In just over an hour, we meet a world full of characters—her father, mother, nursery school friends, and fellow drama students—all of whom are brought to life with incredible versatility. Tan’s physicality, vocal range, and use of accent are impeccable, making each character distinctly convincing. Her portrayals ranging from subtle, emotionally charged moments of enthusiasm, passion, and pain to wonderfully exaggerated, humorous renditions of Shakespeare. The piece powerfully unravels the complexities of navigating a world between cultures, highlighting the dissonance between dreams and reality, and the sense of being lost between them.

Tan’s writing is as sharp as her performance offering layers of subtle observation and satire.

Five folding stools cleverly transform into characters, props, and symbols, accentuating moments of tension and, at times, simply serving as seats.

The performance is underpinned by strong sound design that includes incidental music and effects that establish each setting. However, performing in a small lecture theatre presents challenges, with the limited stage space restricting some of Tan’s expansive energy. However, the raked seating ensures that every audience member has a clear view of this intimate, powerful performance.

Lighting designer Lim Woan Wen won Best Lighting award at the 2020 Singapore’s national theatre awards for Forked – sadly there is little scope to see that in this setting with limited resources but Tan still holds our attention throughout.

A highly recommended show by a talented performer who delivers a thought-provoking, captivating, and emotionally layered exploration of culture, laced with laughter and skilled caricature.

 

 

 

 

 

Published