Goh Boon Teck: 'Getai's about getting people together for their own private rally'

As Goh Boon Teck's adaptation of filmmaker Royston Tan's "881" comes alive as "881 The Musical", the Toy Factory Theater director stresses the importance of getai -- a bawdy street show held during the Hungry Ghost Festival -- as a tradition that needs to be preserved and celebrated.

CNNGo: What was it about Royston Tan’s film “881” that compelled you to adapt it for the stage?

Goh Boon Teck: I watched the film four years ago and it really moved me to tears. The focus on getai, that it is all about getting people together … so that they have their own private rally -- they can talk, joke about what they want and of course, there’s the song and dance [element]. It’s very much the soul of Singapore that you don’t see or isn’t promoted by the tourism board.

CNNGo: Much of your previous work has dealt with profound human issues. For “881”, what was the human essence that touched you?

Goh: The relationships. In general, I’m more interested in female subjects. There’s greater emotional range, variety and texture. Looking at the Papaya Sisters, they are completely different in character but they share a common love for getai.

In entertainment, you’ve got people who do it for vanity and wealth, but they’re doing it purely for survival.

The gist of it as you’ve seen in Royston’s story is that they’re nobodies fighting to become somebodies and that journey is something people can recognize.

CNNGo: What were some of the challenges adapting “881?”

Goh: The material was good to begin with so it was easy for the cast and I to adapt it for the theater. But there was a need to flesh out the characters and give [the adaptation] more emotional depth.

CNNGo: Was Royston intimately involved with the process?

Goh: Yes. He was like the blood mother and I, the nanny, nurturing his baby.

CNNGo: Did the humor of the Hokkien puns that the trademark of “881” for get lost in translation?

Goh: Not really. Hokkien is a hawker center language that everybody understands. We kept the Singaporean layman quality of it and threaded it into Mandarin to make it understandable.

CNNGo: Do you think getai runs the risk of becoming a dying art form?

Goh: It’s definitely a precious heritage that needs to be kept like our Chinese wayang … Malay folkdance, like our Thaipusam festival. If we are not careful, it can disappear, like that. And people can forget their own traditions. So there’s a risk but it’s not dying yet.