King is certainly a wild show. Telling the story of Geok Yan, a Singaporean Public Relations Executive who follows the impulse to become a drag King named Stirling da Silva, the show is a unique and refreshing exploration of masculine control and the injustice of female treatment in Singapore. Though many of the show’s events feel mad and nearly nonsensical, Jo Tan’s writing is in fact remarkably clever. This is almost metaphorical surrealist theatre, aided by huge plot twists and melodramatic characters, and it prioritises the theme of ownership and control. It becomes clear that Geok Yan is trapped without a world to occupy – they are rejected by the drag community yet also neglected by the masculine world of Singapore.
It is this trapping that encourages huge sympathy for the character, as well as Tan’s painfully geeky and vulnerable presentation of Yan. Tan continually stares out into the audience, smile pasted on face, our hearts breaking for their cruel treatment. This is truly a tour-de-force performance, Tan shifting from bossy executive to drag queen to bored fiancé in seconds. Though some of their embodiments feel somewhat clichéd at the start of the performance, Tan soon warms up, bringing to each character great authenticity, mostly without the painfully exaggerated multi-role performances we see so regularly in one-person shows.
Where the show falls slightly short is its long-winded and somewhat confusing ending. Of course, no spoilers, yet in the final ten minutes the tempo increases to a frantic pace, breathlessly adding plot twists and chaotic events at a rate that the audience simply cannot keep up with. It is a shame given the gradual world-building and themes developed in the first four-fifths of the text, and it significantly hinders the show’s overall effect. Whereas I should have exited the theatre reflecting on the powerful themes discussed, instead I was left with brow furrowed, puzzled by the supposedly shocking concluding events.
King is an incredibly unique look into sexism in Singaporean society, aided by a staggeringly varied performance from Jo Tan – it is just disappointing the final few minutes let it down.
