I Am Seaweed
Mm And Something Happens Here (MASHH)
Nafa Studio Theatre
Jan 16, 8pm
The constant imperative to expand under pressure is gently questioned in 28-year-old Singaporean theatremaker Cheryl Ho’s largely autobiographical 60-minute sketch.
Liberated from the cubicle of office work and its staid cycle of days, freelancer Sheryl – a thinly veiled stand-in for Ho – should feel happy that she is her own boss. But running from teaching classes to voice-over gigs still feels like a punishing rhythm that leaves her squeezed dry.
She finds some solace – not without a dash of suspicion – in therapy. There are resonances with the autobiographical moment in mental health literature – exemplified by South Korean Baek Se-hee’s best-selling memoir I Want To Die But I Want To Eat Tteokbokki (2022) – as Sheryl re-enacts transcripts from her therapy room.
Those who embrace the language of slowing down and opening up that has come to characterise this wave of self-help literature will find something in Ho’s performance to relate to. Like these books, I Am Seaweed offers a comforting mirror for burnt-out audiences, but is also little more revelatory than the lightweight genre can manage.
Instead, Ho’s energetic performance carries the monologue. Switching deftly between a range of roles – seaweed, therapist, infomercial voice and teacher – the actress is a joy to watch on stage, physically embodying the unceasing march of a freelancer’s jammed day.
Semi-ironic multimedia slides flash across the screen above a simple set that is used well, with three spotlights representing the compartmentalised identities of Sheryl. The ending might be a bit of an easy resolution, but the show largely works with its satisfying arc and heartfelt performance.
The show, co-produced with Ho’s long-time collaborator Rachel Lee, was nominated for best in theatre at Melbourne Fringe in 2023.
Ho’s monologue exudes the kind of rarely seen fringe energy that could now become rarer in Singapore with the possible closure of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, which I Am Seaweed is part of.
This energy – the whimsicality with which Ho tells the stories that matter to her – is what makes the show endearing.
Book It/I Am Seaweed
Where: Nafa Studio Theatre, 151 Bencoolen Street
When: Jan 17, 8pm; Jan 18, 3 and 8pm
Admission: $38 from Sistic (go to sistic.com.sg or call 6348-5555)
Info: str.sg/uYHc
- Shawn Hoo is a journalist on the arts beat at The Straits Times. He covers books, theatre and the visual arts.
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Source: Theatre review: I Am Seaweed gently probes the rosy freelance life and mental health
