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The first R-rated play

Chin Woon Ping's Details Cannot Body Wants was the first Singapore play to receive a Restricted (R) rating, granting admission to viewers above 18 years of age. It was one of two plays staged in the double-bill Renewable Women by the National University of Singapore Society and was first performed at the Substation's Guiness Theatre on 12 September 1992.

Background
In June 1992, producer Robert Yeo submitted an application to the Public Entertainment Licensing Unit (PELU) requesting a license for a double-bill Renewable Women. To be staged by the National University of Singapore Society (NUSS), the doublebill would feature his play Second Chance and Chin Woon Ping's Details Cannot Body Wants. Not hearing any news from PELU by August, Yeo decided to call them to enquire about the progress of his application. Yeo was then informed that a license would only be granted after certain deletions and amendments had been made to some objectionable parts of the play, Details Cannot Body Wants. Yeo, a recipient of the Public Service Medal in 1991 for the promotion of drama, appealed to PELU and after some negotiations, a compromise was reached. Although PELU objected to some of the language and gestures used in the play, it allowed the play to be staged uncut and uncensored, but with an R-rating.

This was the first time such a license for a play was issued in Singapore. PELU would grant the R-rated license if a disclaimer was added to all publicity materials surrounding Renewable Women. The disclaimer read: "This play contains adult language and patrons below 18 are discouraged from attending". Although the word "discouraged" did not imply an outright ban on those under 18 years old, it was made clear to NUSS that they had the responsibility to prevent any under-18s from attending, failing which would hold NUSS answerable to PELU. Hence, ushers on the day of performance would have to check the identity cards of those who look "suspiciously young".

Chin accepted PELU's decision as her play was essentially meant to be an ideological piece. The play was staged on 12 September 1992 without much incident. Eight ticket holders were checked for their age but were let through once their identity cards were verified. More than 300 people attended the three shows held over that weekend. The audience consisted mainly of adults in their 20s and 30s.

Description
Details Cannot Body Wants is a 45 minute monologue in which a character, played by Chin herself, enacts the societal, emotional and cultural restrictions of being an Asian woman in a world of mixed sexual and cultural influences. A feminist play, Chin wrote it in order to portray the social construct of women and their intimate experiences, particularly the concept that women are "made women" and not "born women". It is a four-part performance art piece that explores four concepts which define and entrap women in life.

The four concepts
Details: Details of life which women are saddled with.
Cannot(s): Rules imposed on women in their attempt to shape their identity or destiny.
Body: (By) which women are objectified and defined culturally.
Wants: Women's socialised wants or desires.

With a three-person chorus behind her and with the aid of certain props that include an inflatable sex doll, masks, an inflatable bra and tarty costumes, Chin's character rants against restrictions such as the binding of feet, the cultivation of the coy voice, the correct way a woman should sit and the male objectification of women in society. Her play was a heady combination of advertising jargon, black American rap, Christmas carols, Cantonese jingles and Indonesian pantuns. It also makes allusions to a range of Asian and Western cultural figures; Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf, the Japanese geisha, Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, the Platters, Shakespeare and Sutardji Calzoum Bachri. Chin feels that the success of her play hinges on its ability to evoke sympathy for the woman's plight in society from among the audience.



Author
Nureza Ahmad



References 
Britton, D. (1992, September 18). Alternative view on Chins play. The Straits Times, Life, p. 6.

No under-18s caught at Spores first R-rated play. The Straits Times, Home, p. 21.

Ong, S.C. (1992, September 9). Singapores first R-rated play. The Straits Times.

Ong, S.C. (1992, September 9). Two plays restricted to those 18 and above. The Straits Times, Home, p. 23.

Seet, K. K. (2000). "Playful Pheonix": Feminist manipulations of the gaze in contemporary Singapore plays. Performance Arts International, Winter (1). Retrieved April 22, 2004, from www.performanceartsinternational.net/html/KKSpaper.html 

The information in this article is valid as at 1997 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Arts>>Performing Arts>>Theatre
Arts>>Literature>>English (Singapore) Literature>>Drama
Theater--Singapore
Arts>>Theatre>>Theatre direction and production
People and communities>>Social control>>Censorship



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