Few Singaporeans would be unfamiliar with the cry of the Asian koel bird, with its signature ‘oo-woo’ call heard across the island in the early morning light. But in The Necessary Stage’s new play, set to premiere during the 2024 M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, that bird holds far more emotional significance than most of us might realise, as it leads to a tale of family drama surrounding obligations, relationships, and love.

First developed and presented as a dramatised reading during Playwrights’ Cove 2022, Oo-Woo deals with a brother-sister pair (Yazid Jalil and Farah Lola) as they care for their mother suffering from dementia (Dalifah Shahril). But when her pet bird disappears, the incident leads to the family uncovering new secrets and discoveries, as they confront both themselves and each other about what it means to be a dutiful child, and the sacrifices and difficult choices we are foced to make.

Written by Raimi Safari, who last presented his work Rindu di Bulan at the 2022 Fringe, and directed by Mohd Fared Jainal, Oo-Woo promises to be a moving work that deals with the struggles of being a caregiver, and how difficult it can be to give up one’s personal aspirations for the sake of love. “I’m very fortunate to be given such an opportunity again, especially after developing the work at Playwrights’ Cove, where I hoped to deepen my craft and understanding as a playwright, and I wasn’t expecting to presented and stage it so soon,” says Raimi.

“At Playwrights’ Cove, the entire process began with a bigger question about what shaped and disturbed us as a playwright, and for me, the answer to that was the tension existing within family units in the Malay community, which is something I had already begun to explore in Rindu di Bulan,” says Raimi on the origin of Oo-Woo. “I realised that my strength as a playwright revolved around uncovering real stories, and for this play, I wanted to lean a bit further into that, where I would delve more into other tensions and conflicts within the community.”

“More specifically, there was an article I encountered during the playwriting process that dealt with the elderly becoming increasingly abandoned, where so many of them were being placed in eldercare homes, some even overseas and left behind due to COVID and changing financial situations,” he adds. “It made me seriously question how the idea of filial piety was changing as time went on, and I wanted to explore that through a play. Since that initial draft, I’ve been able to speak to different organisations, including Dementia Hub and caregivers to discuss the difficulties of caring for elderlies with dementia on a day-to-day basis, that affirmed certain things I’ve written and gave it further possibilities and areas to explore in a newer drafts.”

Director Fared expresses gratitude for the opportunity tackle Raimi’s work, and how it furthers his exploration into works dealing with issues in the Malay community – this is far from foreign ground for him, having recently directed Potong in 2023 that also dealt with dementia, albeit in a different way and approach. “”What jumped out for me with this work is Raimi’s development as a writer, and I get so excited by writers wanting to share their work and becoming more sure of their identity as time goes by,” says Fared. “There’s a very rare honesty in Raimi’s writing that is relatable, and on a more personal basis, I remember how my own father had dementia, and my family’s struggles caring for him.”

“That’s why the family unit becomes so important in the midst of caretaking – how do you continue to exist as a family unit and maintain that sense of togetherness, and how many layers get complicated because of this?” he continues. “For me, reading Raimi’s writing and working together with him, it’s the kind of work that sparks such conversations, and we’re always trying to find the best way of telling this story, with both its hard-hitting naturalistic moments, and more surreal moments when the bird appears, and you get this sense of greyness in both the values and the presentation of the story.”

While much of Oo-Woo surrounds the idea of caregiving, the figure at the centre of it all remains of primary importance – the mother herself suffering from dementia, and how she feels about it. “The issue of dementia always surrounds struggle and agency, and it becomes so difficult to make individual choices in life. As a playwright, I made the decision not to delve too much into the melodrama, so the dementia faced by Dalifah’s character is still in its early stages,” says Raimi. “My focus on this stemmed from the conversations I had with caregivers, and I wanted the play to still contain that sense of hope, rather than watching her regress into a total loss of self-identity. That would have allowed my characters to explore the idea that there was still that push and pull factor that tugged them towards other areas of responsibility.”

“To add on to that, Raimi’s characters are relatively young, and I remember my own family’s experience where my sister had to postpone her wedding and take a break from work just to be there for my dad, whereas my mother shifted her attention and focus to my dad’s health,” adds Fared. “It’s this constant struggle between wants and needs and responsibilities, and so much harder for young people who have their own dreams they have to put on hold out of filial piety.”

On the theme of family and support, one would also extend that metaphor to the greater theatre community, and consider how the theatre community too cares for each other. “As an artist and educator, theatre is very much a family, and the reason I went into education is the want to keep it vibrant and help nurture the next generation of artists,” says Fared. “When you start out, you appreciate having someone to hold your hand and lead you into the industry, before letting go a little and letting them swim to find out how to be independent. We do see that there’s a lot of companies also doing their part in trying to support each other too, whether creative or management-wise, and it does come down to who you want to tap on and engage, and so much more compared to when I came into the scene. Take the fire at The Theatre Practice last year for example – you see how many people came forward to help support them, and it shows how close and tight-knit this community is.”

“I’m someone who completely benefitted from receiving support within the arts industry, as a member of the Main Tulis Group and Rupa co.lab, who both focused on building strong cross-collaborations with other organisations and companies,” says Raimi. “And now here, presenting this work with The Necessary Stage, is just a clear example of how much support I’ve received, and their effort towards opening up new opportunities for the younger generation. I grew up in a scene that was more clearly demarcated, like how Malay artists and theatre often had to go to Panggung Arts or Teater Ekamatra to be given opportunities, but at this juncture, we can see that anyone can support anyone else regardless of race, and that shows so much growth the scene has undergone.”

As for the future of dementia care in Singapore, Raimi shares that while there are strong policies in place, there remains a gap between resources and those willing and able to take advantage of them to help themselves. “The Ministry of Health has rolled out a very sound National Dementia Strategy, but the community lacks awareness and conversation about it, where they only start searching for resources if they face dementia in the family,” says Raimi. “I don’t blame them, because the need doesn’t present itself yet, but there really is so much more we can do on the ground and have proper conversations with each other. That’s the kind of dialogue I hope this play opens up more of, and especially timely given that we’re now an ageing society – and almost certainly an issue we’ll face more on in future that we need to educate ourselves on.”

“Adding on to what Raimi said, we can’t keep holding onto the false mindset that dementia only happens to the elderly – what then can we do to make it a more accessible issue where they become more willing to reach out, beyond families already suffering from dementia, such that our community is ready?” says Fared. “As artists, this is what we can do – to provoke the discussions and dialogue, and change the perspective of a situation, where we become more aware and willing to talk about it.”

“We hope that this play will initiate conversations, spark empathy, and encourage action within the local community. Through collective reflection, we can build a more inclusive and supportive society, where the needs of our elderly are acknowledged, and the challenges faced by caregivers are understood and addressed. Oo-woo aspires to foster greater awareness and compassion for those caring for their elderly family members,” he adds.

Finally, as with our other Fringe interview this year, we asked the all-important question of what our artists think that Singaporeans can and should care more about. “I’m in the education sector teaching secondary school students, and I believe that going beyond our national values, we have to not shy away from caring about being kind, tolerant and more empathetic,” says Raimi. “From what I observe these days, so much of the empathy and kindness is present but only limited to their own smaller circles – what then is stopping us from having that as a more nationalistic goal, where it becomes more pronounced across the entire country? That should be our end goal as a country.”

Photo Credit: Tuckys Photography

Oo-Woo plays from 24th to 28th January 2024 at the Esplanade Theatre Studio. Tickets available here

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024 runs from 17th to 28th January 2024 across various venues. Full line-up available here, with tickets available from BookMyShow