Preview: Still Sailing – Affection, Infection, and other Afflictions by Toy Factory

After previously announcing Direct Entry, their new Director-Mentorship programme, Toy Factory has now revealed its first-ever digital theatre presentation born from it, with Still Sailing launching this November. Directed and written by Toy Factory’s inaugural director-mentorship mentee Andy Pang, the play will be streamed on Vimeo from 23rd November to 6th December, and will be a ‘raw, honest, and light–hearted depiction of solace’ between two broken souls on a cruise amidst a pandemic.

A gambler, Joshua secretly drifts into the horizon, to a place far away from the shores of his debts and worries on a cruise. Unfortunately for him, he sails right into the midst of the pandemic, and is forced into his cabin for a 14 day quarantine, and prematurely cut off from the buzz of casino slot machines. He desperately shuffles through the cards life has dealt him, and with a sinking heart, realises that his holiday has now turned into a nightmare. As he drifts further and further from his dreams, stranded in the middle of nowhere miles away from home, he meets the curious brash girl next door, and wonders how she’s keeping her hope alive.

Bringing the focus to the current global crisis on unsettling seas, Still Sailing is an original English play that surfaces the whirlpool of emotions erupting between two twenty-somethings aboard uncharted waters, isolated separately in their cruise cabins. Shedding light on the inner psyches of Singaporeans dealing with addiction and toxic relationships, the play is set to showcase very real inner-thoughts of an addict, whilst balancing it with tongue-in-cheek dialogues between the odd couple on an unexpected voyage.

“I believe the audience would be able to relate towards the characters and the chaos they face. Like a house that is suddenly tossed into the air, this pandemic has suddenly flipped us all into a state of disorder. Although absurdity be the situation, our empathy can still find solace in the characters and the familiarity of the mayhem,” explains writer-director Andy Pang. “COVID-19 has undeniably painted a sort of gloom and doom image of the world, with an alarming amount of news bombarding us daily with harsh information. Still Sailing, however, steers towards the light in the midst of the heaviness, and sometimes a good way to endure the inevitable storm is to dance in the rain, roar with the thunder and admire the brilliance of electricity splitting the sky.”

Still Sailing features just two actors: Marc Valentine, who takes the lead as Joshua, a snobbish well-to-do compulsive gambler, alongside Tan Rui Shan, who plays the role of Cindy, a scheming petite young lady who has more up her sleeves than just a deck of cards. At heart, Still Sailing anchors on the message of finding beauty, comfort, and solace within one’s brokenness, and offers a source of solace amidst these troubled waters.

Still Sailing: Affection, Infection, and other Afflictions is available from 23rd November to 6th December 2020 on Vimeo