Study guide for local play (Off Centre)

Mr Alvin is kind enough to forward this article to me.

Life! Arts
The Straits Times
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Pg 12

Study guide for local play

A former lead actor in the play Off Centre, which is a GCE O-level
literature text, has written a guidebook to it

Adeline Chia
ARTS REPORTER

YOU could say Abdulattif Abdullah is the perfect man for the job.

The 39-year old English and literature head in Bukit Batok Secondary
School, who played lead character Vinod in Off Centre when it was first
staged in 1993, has written a student’s guidebook to the play.

He had married a fellow cast member, Sakinah Dollah, who played the
female lead, the following year. The study guide was written because
the work by playwright Haresh Sharma of The Necessary Stage (TNS) has
been selected as a GCE O-level literature text this year.

The seminal work about mental illness is the first Singaporean play to
become an O-level text. Not all schools have to study it as they can
use another play on the syllabus, but 13 schools are doing so this
year.

The play is about the friendship between Vinod, a top debater in school
who has a mental breakdown, and a 19-year old, schizophrenic called
Saloma. It is best remembered for bringing the plight of mental
patients to the public’s attention.

For the past six months, Abdulattif and colleague Ruth Tan, 28, have
been writing a 40-page guidebook, which includes sections on
characterization, plot, themes and sample essays.

“It has a lot more details than your typical Cliff Notes
guidebook,” he
says. They are still looking for a publisher but hope to have the book
ready by July in time for the school exams in September.

He says his involvement in the play more than a decade ago gave him
unique insights.

Together with Sharma and TNS artistic director Alvin Tan, he spent
months researching and interviewing mental patients and working out the
roles in workshops.

Also, having played Vinod gave him a deeper understanding of the
character’s motivations which he hopes to share with students.

“If anything else, I can talk to my wife about it,” he says with a
laugh. He has three children with Sakina, 34, who now runs a
pre-school.

Off Centre joins two other Singaporean texts in the O-level curriculum.
They are Heartland, a novel written in 1999 by lawyer Darren Shiau,
and Island Voices, a 2007 anthology of Singapore short stories
commissioned by the Education Ministry.

The ministry said the play was included because it satisfied the
criteria for literature texts, which include To Kill A Mockingbird by
Harper Lee and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“Off Centre explores a wider range of themes such as marginalisation,
friendship, and societal and familial pressures. The play has good
characterisation, dramatic potential and accessibility,” said a
ministry spokesman.

The play has been restaged thrice since its debut in 1993. The most
recent revival was in Malay, called Otak Tak Centre in Kuala Lumpur two
years ago.

Over the past 14 years, Off Centre has also been made into an
experimental feature film and adapted into a television movie, both
with the same title. It has also been given a full reading in Britain
and taught at the International Islamic University Malaysia in Kuala
Lumpur.

Sharma, 41, has been giving talks to teachers since it was announced
the play would become a school text, and even had a webchat with
students on it.

“I feel like a mini-literary celebrity,” he jokes.

And for an entire generation of students who had missed the first run,
TNS is restaging the play this month.

Alvin Tan, 44, who directs the play, says Off Centre remains relevant
today because prejudice against mental health patients still exists.

“I still hear of people whose salaries get halved because employers
think that if you have mental health issues, you’re not so
productive,” he says.

He adds that Off Centre is also a timeless play about human
relationships, such as the friendship between the lead characters Vinod
and Saloma.

Playing Vinod this time is Melvinder Kanth, 34, an actor and
documentary film-maker. Saloma is played by Mislina Mustaffa, 36.

And reprising her 1993 role as Saloma’s mother is actress Alin
Mosbit, 33.

Alin says she is now closer to the actual age of her character, who is
in her late 40s. In the first Off Centre production, she was only 19.

She adds: “The character is more curt and much harsher – she has a
darker streak this time.”

chiahta@sph.com.sg

Off Centre will be staged at the Esplanade Theatre Studio from May 9
to 20 with 3pm shows on May 9, 12 and 13, and from May 16 to 20; 8pm
shows on May 9 to 12, May 18 and 19.

Tickets at $30 from Sistic (www.sistic.com.sg, tel: 6348-5555).