The premise of Saltwater almost read like a recipe for awkwardness, disappointment or disaster. Held at Theatre Works, this wasn’t a conventional night at the theatre. There was no stage-audience divide. In fact, the theatre’s entire seated section was curtained off. Instead, we followed the hallway straight onto the stage. Upon arriving there, we were greeted by our host, Singaporean ex-pat Jamie Lewis, who introduced us to one of our fellow guests who’d help wash our hands in preparation for dinner.
Yes that’s right, we were here at Jamie’s place for dinner. But before we could tuck into the meal, there was work to do. When the 14 of us took our places at the round dinner table, we were handed a pile of mung bean sprouts and instructed to pluck off the ends.
You see, this wasn’t in accordance with theatre customs – physical contact, building a rapport with the other audience members – and it might sound like an uncomfortable theatre sports experience. But the near-meditative practise of plucking beans put everyone in an open frame of mind. “You can’t beat simplicity,” remarked a fellow guest, and right he was. We were all neutralised by our task and happy to get to know one another.
Strangely enough, Jamie remained mostly silent for ten minutes or so, before asking a few of us about the kitchen of our childhood. From here, she detailed her experiences cooking with her mother – what she was restricted from doing and the invaluable things she learned. Eventually, we had prepared enough beans and Jamie left the table to finish preparing the meal at a nearby stove. On the menu was a traditional Singaporean dish, Devil’s curry. Though, the vegetarian variant we ate is a major deviation from the hot dog-heavy version that Jamie’s family prefers.
As we proceeded to eat, the round table conversation lessened and the focus switched wholly to Lewis’ story – her tale of being born to a bi-racial couple in Singapore, her experience marrying an Australian man and moving here, and the respect she’s gained for her mother since becoming a married woman.
In spite of subverting regular theatre customs, at no point did Saltwater seem strange. In fact, the experience felt entirely natural, which meant the inter-subjective connections, the sharing of thoughts, ideas and recipes, were truly enhanced.
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
