REVIEW: The Nest by Rainshadow Studios

CONTENTt: Michelle Ng
IMAGE: Rainshadow Studios

Born out of the love for the environment and the arts, Rainshadow Studios is non-profit art studios that aims to spark conversations around climate change. It’s only fitting that their first project is a local production of a Bavarian play The Nest, where the themes of industrialization had an increasingly impact on the environment.

The play takes place in 1960s Singapore, where we follow young couple Kurt and Martha as they navigate married life through the industrialization age. More households could afford new ‘luxuries’ like televisions and technology, but at a cost. Kurt takes the role of the patriotic breadwinner, clocking in overtime hours to be able to give his new family the best life in a double-edged sword.

As we soon find out, the middle class is again the one who bears the brunt of any wrongdoing as Kurt finds out that his job of disposing waste is contributing to water pollution and inevitably harming his own family. He was just following orders, yet he can’t seem to please anyone – his boss, his wife, and his child.

Te Hao Boon and Ethel Yap who stars in the minimalist play captures the poignancy of the working class struggles which still hasn’t changed even 80 years later. Succinct lines and meaningful silences convey the interwoven themes of moral capitalism and obedience, which pingpongs the responsibility of ensuring our environment is still livable for generations to come by both the companies and the working class.

Shining the light on these conundrums shows that even as technology has progressed so far in the past decades, the environment is still being harmed by the industrialization – an issue that seems to be characterizing this decade.

It’ll be interesting to see what Rainshadow Studios will be pushing out next. They already have another project in the works – Scarce City is an immersive strategy game which sounds like it would re-imagine a world where the effects of climate change has caused a scarcity of natural resources.

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