PUBLISHED February 21st, 2017 05:00 am | UPDATED July 25th, 2024 03:02 pm
As the lights dimmed, the Singapore national anthem chorused throughout the theatre. Sung by reluctant teenage voices, it instantly brought me back to those bittersweet assembly mornings in the quadrangle of my secondary school.
Set in the secondary school days following the lives of ‘good girl’ protagonist, Amanda Chin, and her rebellious schoolmates of the fictitious Geylang Girls’ Secondary School, Detention Katong takes a turn when the goody-two-shoes of the school starts purposefully ending up in detention – for a sound reason.
Nostalgia aside, we were impressed by the amount of talent in our homegrown artists. Lead actress Valerie Choo (an alum of Lasalle School of the Arts) wowed the audience during her solo; hitting the notes in all the right places. Accompanied by the melodious tones of the other girls – Kimberly Chan, Melissa Gan, Natalie Yeap, Sharon Sum, Alyssa Lie, Munah Bagharib, and iNCH Chua – assembled by Dream Academy the synchrony was a testament to the dynamic chemistry on stage. You can almost feel the strong bond amongst the ‘bad girls’.
Award-winning Neo Swee Lin (Phua Chu Kang’s Ah Ma) and other familiar faces like Darius Tan (Monkey Goes West), Sebastian Tan (a.k.a Broadway Beng®), and Suhaimi Yusof (The Noose) round up the stellar cast. The ‘adults’ added their own touch of droll to the mix: the strict Discipline Mistress that threaten the audience into obedience, the know-it-all Principal, the School Counsellor, ironically in need of counselling himself, and the worldly-wise Malay & PE teacher.
The music is originally composed by the talented Selena Tan (Dim Sum Dollies & Sing Dollar), with a team of music composers headed by Elaine Chan (Dim Sum Dollies, Monkey Goes West & Sing Dollar), Sarah Cheng-De Winne (Brand New), Dave Tan (Electrico) and Benjamin Kheng (The Sam Willows). You can expect some unconscious foot tapping – especially to the catchy opening number “Who You Are” – and remember to stand up for the live concert band when it’s over, since they only revealed at the closing. Also, keep a ear out for one of Suhaimi Yusof’s songs, which features a mix of our Mother Tongues.
Hitting home close to any (current or ex) Singapore Secondary School students’ heart, this musical had us laughing and empathising with the girls of the make-belief Geylang Girls’ Secondary School. If there’s one takeaway from this, it is that not everyone can be defined by their outward appearance. Bad girls can be good too.
Detention Katong will be running until 5 March 2017 at the Esplanade Theatre. Tickets are priced from $50, available via SISTIC.