The prata house : a play in three acts

• Main Author: Leong, Xin Yi
• Other Authors: Jean Tay
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities::Literature
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/62748
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

“The Prata House” features inter-racial and family relationships that are not uncommon in our local context. Cassandra, a Chinese Singaporean woman, is a divorcee and mother, who had moved away from Singapore and is back for a mini reunion at a prata shop house which she frequents with her daughter, Felicia. The play reveals Cassandra’s reactions to her daughter’s recent engagement to a Malay man, Hakim, and a painful past that she had kept locked away. On the surface, the play seems to deal with the issue of race rather extensively, but in truth, this subject acts merely as a distraction from the underlying theme of regret. Cassandra’s remorsefulness is revealed in her arguments with Felicia in Act one. Through her daughter, she is forced to confront and resolve an emotional affair that she thought she had escaped years ago- the idea of the forbidden inter-racial love. In Act two, we learn a little more about her backstory and by Act three, she finally reconciles with her past and is able to move on, as represented by her acceptance of Felicia’s relationship.