23 Feb 07 How did the cat get so fat? A review of the play by Teater Ekamatra, a production from the Singapore Fringe Festival 2007 By Grace How did the cat get so fat?, narrated from the perspective of a small child, appears to be a deceptively simple story: a nine-year old girl, Fatimah, meets people from distinctly different social classes and their interaction with her reveals social biases prevalent in our society today. However, it is clear from the start that this play is an allegory, not a euphemism, and doesn't pretend to be one - it throws down the gauntlet to the audience to break out of the confines of social prejudice, and shows us how the negative perspectives of adults become self-fulfilling, self-perpetuating prophecies. The performance is technically and theatrically impressive, with Siti, the sole performer, ably shouldering the responsibility of portraying and defining more than five characters while making us acutely aware of Siti's plight and how her circumstances and perceptions are shaped by the people she meets. That's not the only reason the performance is so affecting: Siti is ably accompanied by intricately engineered sound (courtesy of Zulkifle Mahmod) and video interludes (Izmir Ickbal's doing) depicting an eye and a ear in conversation, representing humans and society in general, and their conversation serves as a complement to Fatimah's situation. Far more impressive, however, is the manner by which social and political themes are explored. Fatimah draws hopscotch squares on the ground, defining and restricting her own boundaries of movement. The comment on Singaporean society is clear: our perceived social and political limitations inhibit us as much as our real, physical limitations do. Zizi, the director and playwright, makes no bones about telling the audience that the responsibility to take charge of their own future is theirs more than anyone else’s. At the post-performance talk, she says in response to a question, “The personal is political and the political is personal.” As far as this play and Zizi are concerned, politics affect everybody, so no on is too inconsequential to effect political change. The post-performance talk proved to be extremely enlightening even for a seasoned theatregoer. For instance, the title How Did the Cat Get So Fat? is a reference to the NOFX song Perfect Government. The use of the eye and ear in the video serves to give the play a more universal dimension, as a contrast to the specificity of the characters Fatimah meets. Near the end of the play, when Fatimah begins speaking in a secret language, the audience is caught off-guard: most of the rest of the play is in Malay. Zizi explains this secret language to be representative of the alienation felt by minority ethnic groups in a multicultural society. The origin of the obscure name Mr. Minismen remains unclear, but if you should so choose, it can be interpreted as a reference to any number of themes explored beginning with M: money and multiculturalism being just two. Even if you are a seasoned theatregoer, the post-performance talk is extremely enlightening: for instance, the title How Did the Cat Get So Fat? is a reference to the NOFX song Perfect Government. The use of the eye and ear in the video serves to give the play a more universal dimension, as a contrast to the specificity of the characters Fatimah meets. Near the end of the play, when Fatimah begins speaking in a secret language, the audience is caught off-guard: most of the rest of the play is in Malay. Zizi explains this secret language to be representative of the alienation felt by minority ethnic groups in a multicultural society. The origin of the obscure name Mr. Minismen remains unclear, but if you should so choose, it can be interpreted as a reference to any number of themes explored beginning with M: money and multiculturalism being just two. After leaving the theatre, I heard a fellow audience member tell someone on the phone, “Even though it’s in Malay, it’s a Singaporean thing so everyone can understand… and the actress, damn good – only one actress but she played everything!” Perhaps the strongest indication of how successful How Did the Cat Get So Fat? is that it grabbed and retained the attention of the average citizen, and galvanised him into action.