Singapore, Acting Company Speak a Different Language

When South Coast Repertory submitted the script of “Frankie and Johnny” to the Singapore Festival of Arts, the authorities asked for cuts.

SCR artistic director Martin Benson said the company was asked to tone down the production--specifically to eliminate the display of female breasts and to edit some references to oral copulation.

SCR agreed to the former and refused to agree to the latter.

“We said the language was essential to the play,” Benson recalled. “They said, ‘Well, how about the sexual favor that’s asked?’ And Dave Emmes (SCR’s producing artistic director) came back with a classic: ‘Oh, do you mean when one of the characters asks for a sandwich?’ They said, ‘No, not that favor.’ We didn’t cut the language at all.”

Paul Jenkins, for one, is grateful they didn’t. He leads Stars, an amateur Singapore troupe that will be directed by John-David Keller for three months in a production of “Room Service.”

Jenkins said that by bringing in a relatively daring production, SCR had set a precedent that he and others could use when they want to mount riskier plays than they have so far.

“Outsiders are allowed a higher degree of realism on the stage than we are,” Jenkins said. “If I wanted to put on ‘Frankie and Johnny,’ I couldn’t. It wouldn’t be allowed.”

He added that SCR’s festival staging of the Terrence McNally play should help lower the official barrier.

“Now,” said Jenkins, “we can point to it and say: Did you see depravity in the streets? Was there a marked rise in rapes? Of course not. Audiences are mature enough to handle this kind of stuff if you let them know in advance that it’s for adults.”