“Welcome to Malaysia!” we hear the drivers announce from the speakers inside the cargo hold of the specially-converted truck . That rolled out of the Esplanade car park.
Ganes and Ravi, the men behind the wheels are also the two stars of Cargo Kuala Lumpur-Singapore, a site-specific performance engineered by the theatre collective Rimini Protokoll from Germany.
The preview tonight was the first of a number of shows that I’m catching – assuming of course I get all of my ticket requests, heh – and it was a great way to start my fest experience.
Compressing/simulating a typically epic journey of cargo truck drivers from KL to SG into a two-hour experience, we travelled from Esplanade to Jurong and back.
Part voyeuristic CCTV experience, part road movie, we listened to and watched the two dudes talk about their work, talk nonsense, sing songs, and navigate traffic. The side of the truck alternated as a ready projection screen unto which videos were projected and, when the screen was rolled up, a window to the real world.
But that’s the catch. As we travelled presumably down Malaysia, we confront a geography we’re (more or less) familiar with. We’re in Port Klang but we’re also in Tanjong Pagar. It wasn’t so much confusing as it gave the whole experience a dream-like touch.
The whole interplay between what’s real and what’s staged was a constant, and I found myself second guessing a couple of times, like when… er, I’ll let the other reviewers spoil the fun for you lah. But trust me, there were some beautiful, surreal moments that involved a woman.
Arrgh! Ignore that last bit.
But that’s just half of it. We were also laughing our heads off. The performers (non-actors and actual Malaysian drivers who’ve taken time off from their jobs at PSA) were da bomb, and their awkwardness as amateur performers was endearing – especially when interspersed with a lot of casual ad libbing as they rambled on about cars and pretty girls and their families. Or sometimes, simply talked cock.
But funny and poetic moments aside (sound guru Evan Tan’s soundscapes and song choices added so much to the whole ride – case in point was the inspired use of The Blue Danube Waltz as you slowly go up what I thought was a multi-storey carpark in some port in Jurong), Cargo Kuala Lumpur-Singapore is still at its core a social commentary.
On these drivers’ constant balancing act between tedium and normalcy, and more prominently on issues foreign workers face – as statistics and newsbits are occasionally flashed in front of you, or more even more in-your-face, you’re taken right into the heart of your middle-class lives’ no man’s land – Tanjong Penjuru Dormitory and its block upon block upon block of foreign workers. In other words, every uppity Serangoon Gardens resident’s nightmare.
And then, of course, there’s the irony of being human cargo yourself in the midst of being entertained. But it’s already 1am so goodnight.
Cargo Kuala Lumpur – Singapore runs until June 12, 6.30, Esplanade Waterfront Carpark. (Except Sundays). You’ll have to be there 30 minutes before showtime. Tickets at $36 here.
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