Happy Place

by Jo Tan
Singapore Writers Festival 2025
Play Den, The Arts House

There's so much focus on writing and creating new plays but what about rewriting existing plays to realise their full potential? That's the spirit behind Rewrite My Fire, an initiative pioneered by theatre maker Jo Tan to allow scripts to have a second lease of life. 

In this program as part of the Singapore Writers Festival, Tan has chosen to revisit Happy Place, a play that earned her a particularly discouraging review when it premiered in 2023 but one she did not simply want to consign to the annals of history. She's worked with dramaturg Joel Tan and director Judy Ngo to take the entire play apart and put it together again, retaining the core relationship of content creators trying to navigate an uncertain and hostile world. 

Photo Credit: Jo Tan

The action revolves around perky radio deejay Val (Tan) who has invited her estranged university friend Estee (Rusydina Afiqah) for an interview on her morning talk show. Her co-host Poe is nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, a deadly epidemic called the Evanescence rages outside, causing people to explode into small pieces if they come into contact with it. 

Much of the tension comes from the two women's differing attitudes to entertainment. Val is all about using feel-good humour and cheap jokes to entertain her listeners while the more serious, grounded Estee feels compelled to educate people about hard truths, a fact that has led her to fall out of grace for her outspoken views on social and political issues. They spar both on and off air, treading into deeply personal territory as they excavate their own rocky relationship and the unsettling world around them.  

Happy Place offers an important message about the role of artists and content creators. Should they simply toe the line and trade on carefree entertainment for the masses or is it important to ask difficult questions despite the consequences? The Evanescence is a clever symbol for so many external threats that worm away at our essential humanity, from geopolitical strife to the constant state of censorship and surveillance in Singapore society. 

Photo Credit: Jo Tan

I caught a reading of the reworked play earlier this year at Centre 42 (where Tan spent a year as Writer-in-Residence) and there's already so much that has changed between that rework-in-progress and this fully realised new version. There's a sharper delineation of the characters, clearer exposition and slightly more optimistic ending. It may not be quite perfect but it's punchy, entertaining and makes its point in just an hour. 

Tan has relentlessly focused on improving her plays over the years. Both her monodramas Forked and King have been through multiple iterations and gone on to win hearts at the Edinburgh Fringe. I have no doubt Happy Place will enjoy an equally happy afterlife.

The Crystalwords score: 3/5