''Everything but the Brain'' is a
tragicomedy
Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragedy, tragic and comedy, comic forms. Most often seen in drama, dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the ov ...
by Singaporean local writer Jean Tay. The work revolves around two main characters: Elaine Lim, a Science physics teacher, and her father Lim Chong Boon, a stroke-afflicted former professor. Originally developed at the Playwrights' Cove at
The Necessary Stage
The Necessary Stage (previously known as M1 Theatre Connect and M1 Youth Connection) is a Singaporean non-profit theatre company with charity status. Formed in 1987 by Alvin Tan, The Necessary Stage was established with its own mission to creat ...
in 2001, ''Everything but the Brain'' was first performed in 2005. The play won Best Original Script (for Tay) and Best Actor (for Gerald Chew as the father) at ''
The Straits Times
''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...
Life!'' Theatre Awards 2006 and was published by
Epigram Books
Epigram Books is an independent publishing company in Singapore. It publishes works of Singapore-based writers, poets and playwrights.
History
Epigram was originally set up in 1991 by Edmund Wee as a design agency. Epigram began the publish ...
in 2010. In 2014, the play was selected by the
Ministry of Education (Singapore)
The Ministry of Education (MOE; ms, Kementerian Pendidikan; zh, 教育部; ta, கல்வி அமைச்சு) is a ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for the formulation and impleme ...
as a recommended 'O' and 'N' level literature text.
Characters
* Elaine Lim: An unmarried, 36-year-old teacher specialising in
Physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
.
* Lim Chong Boon: A 66-year-old former professor in Physics and Elaine's father.
* Dr. Samuel Chen: A neurologist in his late twenties.
* Chorus A: A nameless bear who primarily narrates most of the play's events.
* Chorus B: A nameless bear and Chorus A's partner.
* Chorus C: A nameless bear and Chorus A's partner.
Plot
A middle-aged Physics teacher attempts to reverse time using the
Theory of Relativity
The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...
in order to save her dying father.
Performance history
''Everything but the Brain'' was first performed in 2005 under the helm of Krishen Jit. In 2010, Samantha Scott-Blackhall revisited the play and in 2013, Derrick Chew directed the third remake of the play. ''Everything but the Brain'' was also staged in 2012 in London by the UCL Singapore Society and in Nottingham by the
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...
's Singapore Society.
See also
*
Singaporean literature
The literature of Singapore comprises a collection of literary works by Singaporeans. It is written chiefly in the country's four official languages: English, Malay, Standard Mandarin and Tamil.
While Singaporean literary works may be considered a ...
References
{{Reflist
Singaporean plays
2005 plays