There is only one character, Emily. She wears the sarong kebaya of a modern (educated, exposed to western ideas, open-minded, living a modern lifestyle, non-traditional) Nonya; jade bangle, brooches and ear studs, her hair in a bun(she must have had a lot of free time; she has no need to do manual work). When the play opens she is in her mid-thirties (she is a woman who has a lot of life experiences), but during the play she will move back and forward through time and through a range of milieux (time frames and situations) – “Age cannot wither her(she is quite unaffected by the passing of time; she is ageless and always seems so full of energy), nor custom stale for infinite variety(she cannot be held back by anything which surrounds her; she is always moving on with life no matter what; she continues to throw surprises in the way she laeds her life.”
The play opens in 1950. (That was pre-independent Singapore.)
One set is used throughout the play. It suggests a Baba mansion built at the turn of the century; with plastered walls, covered to a height of one metre with ornamental tiles, interrupted perhaps by Grecian columns or marble statues.
On the walls towards stage right hang group photographs of a large family, and portraits of the patriarch and matriarch; also a large oil-painting of Emily as a young bride, in full traditional costume.
Near stage centre is a large chair of rosewood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Beside it is a similar occasional table on which stands a telephone. Two wheeled trolleys stand in the wings until needed.
There is an “auxiliary acting area’ – a side stage, or merely the area in front of the curtains.
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