A woman demands justice from the mayor as her husband holds her back / Photo: Bernie Ng

The Chair
Intercultural Theatre Institute
1 September 2023
Drama Centre Black Box 
31 August–2 September 2023

An original piece by the graduating cohort of the Intercultural Theatre Institute, The Chair revolves around a seemingly nondescript town that is rocked to its core when James, scholarship recipient and pride of the town, kills a few children. 

According to the law of the town, the execution must be carried out by the family of the victims. 

A woman (Swathilakshmi Perumal) keen on revenge pressures her husband (Choy Chee Yew) to take on a role because he is a butcher. But despite him being adept at slaughtering chickens, he feels uneasy about taking a human life.

The mayor (Mika Oskarson Kindstrand) quickly absolves herself of the responsibility by claiming it is merely a duty for her, but it is healing and an act of justice for the others, including the wider public. 

A recluse elderly woman [Cheng Kam Yiu (Yolanda)] has the unenviable position of grieving over the loss of her grandchild, while being the town’s appointed counsellor to the chosen executioner. Things take a strange turn when the butcher and her are chosen as the executioners.

James’s mother (Abinaya Jothi) struggles to make amends with the rest who have always shunned her as she works as a cleaner. 

Throughout the course of the show, questions about the nature of justice are raised as the characters grapple with grief, anger, and guilt. 

Tensions run high between the mayor and James’s mother / Photo: Bernie Ng

Unfortunately, this proved to be a tall order for the actors. We get enough from them to understand the plot, but not enough to sense that the characters are actually grappling with and trying to keep these emotions under control. 

Given that this is an original work, it is puzzling as to why the young actors are given such overly demanding roles. 

However, we are compensated with a good synergy in their movement work. 

In one scene, the characters are frantically trying to search for the children in the river, depicted by just a black patch on the floor. As they tumble over each other, the characters take turns to raise up the children’s belongings. How the actors manage to hide and retrieve the props is a wonder to this reviewer. 

The strong synchronicity between the actors’ movements and the sound (designed by Meng Jiaoyang) and lighting effects (designed by Faith Liu Yong Huay) also contribute to the simmering tensions which leads to a couple of climatic moments, signalled by perhaps an overuse of strobe lights.  

The butcher mulls on the grave task ahead / Photo: Bernie Ng

Kudos to director Li Xie for pulling together the seemingly disparate elements of a sparse set (black patches on white floor); striking props by Puny Life Form (think a striking red telephone with cord that doubles as a noose while hanging on sharp hooks); and guiding the actors through the devising process to create a coherent world. 

Despite the dungeon-like atmosphere, the consistency of the visual, audio, and performance languages allow us to buy into the idea of the characters being in an odd little town. 

While I was not on the edge of my seat, The Chair still intrigues as one considers the nature of justice and how it should be meted out. 

Other Reviews

“Review: ‘The Chair’ by Intercultural Theatre Institute explores the death penalty, justice and grief in a twisted small town” by Yaiza Canapoli, SG Magazine

Review: The Chair by ITI 2023 Graduating Cohort by Philippe Pang

★★★☆☆ Review: The Chair by Intercultural Theatre Institute by Bakchormeeboy

Further Reading

[Interview] Pulling Up a Chair with Li Xie and ITI Students

Digital Programme of The Chair