Do Brown Boys Tell Jokes?

Checkpoint Theatre’s new work Brown Boys Don’t Tell Jokes by Myle Yan Tay illuminates the complexities of friendship, the dualities of jokes, and what it means to participate in human relationships with a whole heart.

- Charmaine Tan

Human relationships are fun to study. It requires an understanding of the two parties involved, and how that spills over into a group dynamic when looked at from afar. In some way, all relationships begin as friendships where there is a mutual likeness or acknowledgement of pleasantries in interaction before they are anything more. But being courteous and polite is far from the only thing that determines the dynamism and longevity of these connections — be it fleeting or forever — especially in the context of Singapore.

We have come considerably far in our reception to self-expression be it through fashion, music, and movement, but how accepting we are of each other still comes with the undeniable nuance of societal, cultural and political factors. Our multiracial demographic is the very fabric that both strengthens and weakens us as a community and will always continue to be a topic worth exploring as the nation grows. But where and when these conversations can happen will always be up for a discussion of its own, at least until Singapore becomes anything other than the economically-driven and meritocratic innovation nation the world is more than familiar — and somewhat in awe — with.

A bypass that we have somehow come to terms with is the stage, more specifically that of live theatre. Amongst all the performing arts, the form of theatre allows the imagined to take the place of the real in the most visceral way, each carefully choreographed human interaction granting words with a formidable impact in nuance and speech. The void these narratives exist in stops real time for social discourse to take place behind the safety of closed doors (or curtains), and everyone in the space reflects and searches for a solution as a collective, at the same time.