Saturday March 14, 2009
A pearl of a play
By HELEN ONG
The hills are alive again with the sound of Emily Gan’s voice as she tells us the stories of her life in Malaysia’s longest-running play, Emily of Emerald Hill.
Pearlly Chua Poh Choo, 53, has been treading the boards professionally for the past decade. Before that, she was in amateur dramas, much of it as the indomitable nyonya matriarch Emily Gan, in Emily of Emerald Hill, a role she has been playing since 1990.
Nearly two decades and over 135 performances later, she is once again resurrecting the role. This time around director Chin San Sooi promises a different interpretation.
Perfect role: Pearlly Chua has played the character Emily Gan in Emily of Emerald Hill for nearly two decades now. “Although the script will stay the same, it will be a harsher, more disgusting Emily. She is a mother out to get her son!” he announces.
Back by popular demand, Emily of Emerald Hill is a one-woman monologue which has become Malaysia’s longest-running play. Chin believes it has helped to fuel the current revival of interest in Peranakan culture, providing as it does valuable insight into the private lives of the baba-nyonya.
“In fact, it has become a cult play!” he claims.
The play, first produced in 1984, is about Emily Gan, self-styled Grande Dame of Emerald Hill, who sets out to address family issues like wayward husbands, long-suffering eldest sons, and bullying in-laws. Bear witness to the delicious battles amongst the women of the Gan clan for one-up(wo)manship, and see the bitter irony of how her overpowering love leads to tragic events within her household.
Written by Singaporean Peranakan Stella Kon (who was, paradoxically, born in Scotland), it won first prize in the 1983 Singapore National Play-Writing Competition. However, it wasn’t till later that the first production was staged.
“The text is rich and well-written, so it is quite difficult to play. The actor must be very experienced,” Chin explains.
Over nine versions of the play have been produced, under different directors and with different leading ladies.
Emily, the principal (and only) character, was apparently modelled on Kon’s maternal grandmother.
“Although Emily is a fictitious character, some people got rather insulted, because they thought it was based on them!” adds Chin. Emerald Hill is a residential area off Singapore’s Orchard Road, although No. 117, the mansion Kon’s family used to live in, no longer exists.
Although a Malaysian, former PR lady Chua herself was born in Singapore and spent the first two years of her childhood there. The family later relocated to Kulai, Johor, where her father worked in the Malaysian Civil Service. Now married to her second husband, an American, she resides in Seremban, Negri Sembilan.
Film projects under Chua’s belt includes the supporting actress role in Tsai Ming Liang’s 2006 production I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone, which won rave reviews at the Vienna Film Fest and also received a Golden Horse nomination.
She is now appearing in Lion Hearts, a 30-episode Mandarin series on local television, as the mother of one of the lead characters. The romantic comedy is aired weeknights on Ntv7.
Acting takes Chua many places, and playing Emily has meant stints in various parts of South-East Asia as well as a trip to Vancouver, Canada, in 2006, where it was apparently very well received. At the end of this year, they are due in Australia where she will perform in Woollagong and Adelaide.
“I enjoy the adrenaline that live theatre gives me,” Chua says. “On TV there is no rapport or immediate feedback from the audience. On stage, one has the luxury of exploring the character.”
Like Emily?
“Yes. I’m still sharpening my skills — or, in this case, claws! — as an actress. Playing her this time round, I’ve had to dig deep in the crevices of my mind to bring out Emily Gan, to give the audience more to think about.”
Chua, who has no formal training as an actress, says Chin has helped her to develop theatrically. Chua likens Emily to the colourful kueh lapis — her character unfolds, layer by layer, revealing a variety of textures and flavours underneath.
“It’s not sweet all the time! Her abrasive and manipulative character eventually emerges and becomes quite rotten!”
Chua is, however, keen to emphasise that she is nothing like the character in real life. “In fact, she has taught me how not to be like that!”
There are also many hilarious moments. Without wishing to give too much away, let’s just say that Emily learns that aggression doesn’t get her very far and eventually receives her comeuppance.
“The play is universal,” Chua stresses. “It depicts the struggle of a human being and cuts through barriers: age, gender, race and religion. Come and see it. You will not regret it,” she promises.
Emily of Emerald Hill is presented by Arts Seni in Kuala Lumpur and Ombak-Ombak Arts Studio. The two-act play will be staged at The Lodge Hotel in KL on March 14 and 15.
It will also run at the Wawasan Open University in Penang on March 28 and 29. For details, contact Philip Wong at 012-398 9608 (for KL shows) or Ho Sheau Fung at 012-514 5933 (Penang shows).
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