The Coffin is too Big for the Hole and No Parking on Odd Days by Kuo Pao Kun

Next on our reading schedule are The Coffin is too Big for the Hole and No Parking on Odd Days which we will be discussing on Sat 18 Sep. Thanks to TheatreWorks, we will also be screening clips from a 1990 production of Coffin.

As always, the fee is $5 and the session will run 2pm - 4pm, Substation Classroom 1. Please email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com if you would like to attend.

Both monologues are classic works of Singapore literature and were penned by the late Kuo Pao Kun, co-founder of the The Substation and a leading figure in the local theatre scene till his passing in 2002.

Regarded as a mentor and inspiration by many practitioners today, Kuo received the Cultural Medallion in 1989 and the ASEAN Cultural Award in 1993. His plays have been translated in various languages and performed around the world.

These two short plays were his first English-language plays after years in the Mandarin theatre scene. Both are also among his first few works after release from detention by the government under the Internal Security Act (1976 - 1980).

Copies of the texts are, as always, available from public libraries and major bookstores.

You may want to think about the following questions when reading the plays:

1. One of the key themes of both plays is the conflict between the individual and the bureaucracy of the state. What other tensions do you think are being explored?

2. Are there incidents in your own personal life that mirror the circumstances described in the plays? To what extent do you feel that the plays are specific to Singapore? How do you think the plays would translate overseas?

3. What are the similarities and differences between the two plays? Why do you think Coffin has been staged much more often than Parking?

4. To what extent do you think the two texts work specifically as pieces of theatre? If you were a director, how would you choose to present the plays onstage?

Reviews of productions of the plays can be found here:

1. W!ld Rice (Singapore, 2000 and 2001)
http://inkpot.com/theatre/00reviews/00revkuopaokundoubbill.htm
http://www.wildrice.com.sg/images/doc/news/2001/20010207INKPOT.pdf

2. Teater Mandiri and The Theatre Practice (Indonesia and Singapore, 2001)
http://www.inkpot.com/theatre/01reviews/01revcoffistoobighole.html

3. Alec Tok (USA, 2001)
http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxxi/2001.02.02/ae/p19coffin.html

4. Drama Box (Singapore, 2010)
http://www.inkpotreviews.com/2010reviews/0223,coff,kk.xml