The latest trend since we last wrote a review-- #throwback. We have watched the performance, Kebaya Homies, in January 2020. We had so much fun to the point that we felt that we may not be objective in writing our review straight away. so we waited for the whole fun vibe to kind of settle down before we decided to write our very own review off the theatrical production.
Kebaya Homies starts with both actresses, Adlin Mosbit and Siti K. entering the space with full set of burqas, in a setting which very much feels like a club in the 70s, with halal wine and beers served at the bar area. In fact, when I entered, I remembered joking with my partner that it feels very much like the olden days, Club Silver Tortoise. As such, there is already tension built up from the very beginning of the play that set a precedence to the theme that would be dealt with during the whole production. The whole idea of halal wine and beers is already a paradox in itself, adding on to the tension of religion and what is allowed or otherwise, especially to the women in Singapore. 5 minutes into the play, both actresses, who played themselves in most part of the play, decided to take off their burqas and reveal the kebayas that they have been wearing underneath, which I thought was a nice touch to the whole idea of “we are Malays first before we are Muslims”, and this is echoed throughout the play with characters debating over the sanctity of kebayas as opposed to burqas. In fact, this was a debate that was hotly discussed among practitioners. On one school of thought, there have been postings and photos of women in kebaya in the 60s and 70s, and how we adored women and saw the kebaya as a symbol of femininity and why that should ever change with the introduction of Islamic teaching in the 80s? The other school of thought state that if we were to become Muslims, we should fully adopt the practice, which includes the wearing of a headscarf, with the burqas as an option. What I thought was intriguing during the play was the whole discussion of whether we are good Muslims if we cover ourselves from had to toes and yet selectively choose on how we should treat other people. During the whole production, both actresses also slipped into different characters which were previously featured in other Haresh Sharma’s play which also echoed the question of whether Islamic laws are patriarchal, designed to favour the men over the women. It also brought to the surface the question of whether women are considered good Muslims as long as she remained subservient to the husband and the men in their lives. What if a woman were to be subservient to the men in her lives but spent most of her time gossiping and spreading ill intentions in the society—will she still be considered as a good Muslim? I thought these questions are questions that will remain valid even in today’s context. We even have a new Malay song this year by Zizi Kirana, in which one of the lines mentioned “Hati hitam boleh tutup dengan jubah”, which means a heart that is filled with ill intentions can easily be covered with a religious outfit, synonymous to “a wolf in sheep’s skin”. And given the sensitive context and theme, I feel that the setting of a club, and interweaving the play with live singing of contemporary songs help the audience to discern the issues within.
The only part of this play that we would deemas a missed opportunity is the confined spaces in between audience members which cuts off the interactivity between the performers and audience that was intended within the play. In between songs, the two actresses will try to get the audience to sing and dance along, but due to the lack of space, it is hard for the audience to actually stand up and dance along, even though the designation of space between audience and performers are blurred out during the performance.
Overall, we found the balance between what is deemed fun and what is considered controversial have been carefully tabulated and crafted within the production. And even after months since the production, we can’t stop listening to the soundtrack made available on Spotify and reliving the different moments in the play.
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