IT was an interesting mix of fact and fiction in 'The Sisters Soong' on the big stage of the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre last week.
Narrator Omar Ali held the audience with wit and style as he weaved the tale of the three sisters that played pivotal roles in creating modern-day China.
In 'The Sisters Soong', the show had a non-linear chronology, and dramatic moments were enthusiastically inventive.
With song and dance thrown in, the three-part show of over two hours was fun, relaxing entertainment and quite informative of these strong women and bits of history. (Psst, I didn't know there was a Sun Yat Sen memorial in Penang, did you?)
History states that the Soong girls were born in China to a pastor and revolutionary guy called Charles, who made a fortune in printing and banking.
They were educated in the US. The eldest, Ai-ling married banker H.H. Kung, who later became Finance Minister in China, while Ching-ling tied the knot with the Father of Modern China, Sun Yat Sen (and was even known as the 'Mother of Modern China'), and Mei-ling married Chiang Kai-shek.
That's a lot of history to cover in two hours. But Omar drove the pace with well-delivered narration from the 'book of fact and fiction'.
His narration acted as the bridge for vignettes of the sisters' relationships with each other, mum and dad, and future husbands.
These were historical figures, but in 'The Sisters Soong', you realise these were people with their own foibles and dreams.
Kudos to the cast led by the three women — Ruby Yap as Ai-ling, MayJune Tan as Ching-ling and Jane Tee as Mei-ling.
Multi-talented Ruby and MayJune are perhaps better known for Chinese film work while Jane is a relative newcomer to the stage.
The women showed commitment to their roles, delivering nuanced portrayals.
The 'husbands' — Dennis Lee (as Sun Yat Sen), Tan Li Yang (as Chiang Kai-shek), Jerry Pang (H.H. Kung), and Season Chee (Charlie Soong) — gave believable performances.
Priscilla Wong, as Charlie's wife, made an impression with her voice like buttered cream that cut clearly across the stage to the audience.
I think she was in the 2017 KLPAC production of 'Thunderstorm'. She lent dignity to the performance of a loving, but firm, wife and mother of strong-willed daughters in 'The Sisters Soong'.
The third act brilliantly brought the story to an end. The three leads were enthroned in a triangular setting on that sparse stage and gave us impassioned monologues of what became of their struggles and loves.
They were all clear, expressive and emotionally charged.
Their portrayals were well aided by Beatrice Looi's costumes, with discernible thought given to hairstyles and accessories.
The use of minimal props for the stage gave room for the ensemble to manoeuvre across stage and actors in a few dances, choreographed by Kenny Shim.
Kudos to the orchestra, under the baton of Lee Kok Leong, who gave well-paced, and evocative music to the scenes on stage, including during a solo delivery of 'Amazing Grace' by Tan Li Yang, whose voice just glided along waves of pipa notes and maybe the cello.
This East-West mix was so interesting, not just because the music was melodious but that it could well have been a reflection of the Soong sisters' upbringing as Christians in China.
Datuk Faridah Merican directed this play scripted by Joe Hasham, and presented by The Actors Studio, and Seni Teater Rakyat. It was a courageous effort and paid off well in its innovative flow and direction.
Musical theatre productions like this call for a gamut of talent. 'The Sisters Soong' revealed that Malaysia has its share.