Fast fashion conspiracy theory frames corporate greed as the ultimate evil.

In this day and age, evil no longer looks like the devil himself, but often arises in much more innocuous, unexpected forms. And for most people, it might be staring you straight in the face, or in some cases, on your body.

Bringing Toy Factory’s The Wright Stuff Festival to a close is Annie Low’s new play, The Prisoner. Mentored and directed by Alvin Chiam, The Prisoner tackles the growing problem of fast fashion, in particular, the issue of modern slave labour by exploiting sweatshop workers in third world countries, when green citizen Claire discovers an SOS note hidden within her company’s new clothing inventory. When she travels to Vietnam for a conference, she takes the chance to do some sleuthing of her own, and get to the bottom of the mysterious victim working for a massive garment factory.

The Prisoner holds an interesting enough premise to sustain our attention, and keeps us in suspense as we watch Claire dig herself deeper into the conspiracy. As Claire, Chng Xin Xuan is likeable enough to root for, and sometimes is given moments to show off a more unhinged side to her acting as we watch Claire spiral and realise how much of a Pandora’s Box she’s gotten herself into. While there are times one must suspend their disbelief in seeing how obtuse Claire is to the dark underbelly of her own company, writer Annie seems to be aware of this, and maintains a tight hold on ensuring that there is always forward momentum to keep us focused on the central mystery of who the prisoner is.

It is also this mystery that strings together the entire play, while other characters and scenes that lack development in comparison, and sometimes unwittingly devolve into campy or hysterical stereotypes. Claire’s romantic partner and chief financial officer Arthur (Fadhil Daud) for example, becomes almost comically villainous when he does his face-heel-turn, even maniacally laughing or falling over, while unsteady accent work from the other actors playing the Vietnamese employees undermines the pity we feel for them working under such harsh conditions.

Compared to her fellow Wright Stuff playwrights, Annie deals the least with climate head-on, but her more restrained approach allows us to understand the intersectional ideas that make up climate change in the world. Sound designer Te Hao Boon is important for this, as he manages to weave in more subtle, environmentally-related sounds into the design, such as birdsong at the very beginning to remind us how everything ties back to planet Earth.

With how little we actually know about the characters or even the company, it feels as if there were more ideas she wanted to pile in to The Prisoner, which ends on a rather depressing note. But for what it’s worth, it makes for a short, entertaining mystery play that leaves us feeling the weight of the world and how difficult it can be for individuals to make an impact when fighting back against such massive, immoral corporate bigwigs.

While more refinement can still be done when it comes to the precision and impact of character dialogue, The Prisoner makes its point clear by the end – that it is exposure of the truth that brings justice to light, and the more we speak out against the ills of corporate capitalism, the more of a dent we can make in their armour. When it comes to a play like this, there is no satisfactory ending that can also be believable, but Annie has done a good enough job of showing that we do what we can to do what’s within our own capacity, ending The Wright Stuff Festival 2023 on a sobering but hopeful note that change will come.

Photo Credit: Toy Factory Productions

The Prisoner played from 29th September to 1st October 2023, at Gateway Theatre Black Box. More information about The Wright Stuff Festival 2023 available here

Production Credits:

Director & Mentor: Alvin Chiam Playwright: Annie Low Set/Lighting Designer: Tai Zi Feng Sound Designer: Te Hao Boon Cast: Chng Xin Xuan, Ariel Chua, Daisy Zhao Xiaoqing, Johanna Van, Clement Yeo, Fadhil Daud