A Play Review: Material Woman in the Beauty World
Written by Leow Puay Tin, directed by Tung Jit Yang, performed by Ling Tang.
Featured as part of the George Town Festival 2023.
MATERIAL WOMAN IN THE BEAUTY WORLD brings us behind the scenes into the life of a middle-aged woman working in the beauty industry. It tracks her arduous process of getting a divorce, teaches us how to field the advances of “boyfriends”, and tells us the most crucial part of a skincare routine: “Wear sunscreen, even if you don’t go outdoors!”
Like any good slice-of-life, the play illustrates the stray moments and thoughts of the Material Woman, the sum of which amounts to more than its parts.
It is also a one-woman show, with stagings in both English and Mandarin. The monologue is often a favoured storytelling device in Malaysian theatre. I sometimes wonder if this could be traced back to the region’s oral storytelling tradition. It is also a budgetary consideration — as the playwright quipped in an after- show Q&A: “It’s cheaper to hire just one actor!”
