Tender Submission
In the quiet of their church’s cry room, Catherine and David anxiously await the results of an important vote. As the crucial decision hangs in the balance, the life they have built together over the last 30 years comes under sharp scrutiny, and they are compelled to confront the very basis of their relationship.
Tender Submission bears witness to the unspooling of a decades-long marriage. When faith and purpose diverge, what truly lies at the heart of a relationship? Can a new path be found together?
Under Huzir Sulaiman and Chen Yingxuan’s taut, vivid direction, veteran actors and real-life couple Neo Swee Lin and Lim Kay Siu bring honesty and nuance to these complex characters as they navigate unspoken doubts, fears, and desires.
With precision and deep compassion, Lucas Ho’s new play grapples with the tensions between the institutional and the individual, and asks what it really means to commit to something greater than yourself.
Creative Team
- Playwright
Lucas Ho
- Director
Huzir Sulaiman
Chen Yingxuan- Dramaturg
Huzir Sulaiman
- Cast
Neo Swee Lin
Lim Kay Siu- Set & Lighting Designer
Petrina Dawn Tan
- Lighting Co-Designer
Tai Zi Feng
- Sound Designer
Shah Tahir
- Stage Manager
Abel Koh
Reviews
- Press
“[...] Under Huzir Sulaiman and Chen Yingxuan’s co-direction, Neo and Lim are nuanced realisations of a couple unshakeable in their faith. The whole play exudes Checkpoint’s signature realism in a bold one-scene script that plays out in real time, such that it feels like the audience is eavesdropping on their lives.
”The duo are by turns affectionate and withdrawn, accommodating and intransigent to each other’s beliefs. They appear painfully human in some scenes, then thoroughly unsympathetic in others.
“The conflict over the tender submission and their faith is a proxy for other quarrels — on gender roles, marital faithfulness, their daughter and their friendships. [...]
“The couple’s speech is a brilliantly dense church argot in Ho’s script, which is testament to the fullness of these characters of unshakeable faith and their religious upbringing even as it shuts out the uninitiated. [...]
“The mode of spectating becomes more anthropological — a look into the way evangelical, socially conservative Christians persuade, defend, advocate, surrender and congregate among themselves.
“Petrina Dawn Tan’s set is powerful in that regard. Set in a church’s cry room, she places a triptych of empty rectangle frames stage front, giving the audience an impression of having a direct line of sight into the soundproof room and overhearing the couple’s unguarded conversation.
“It is, too, a frame which alienates — reminding the audience that one is always looking from a distance into their world. It serves as a metaphor for the solipsism of one’s beliefs, religious or secular, even if one believes otherwise.”
Shawn Hoo, The Straits Times
“Real-life married couple Neo Swee Lin and Lim Kay Siu add a rich authenticity to the text, the buttoned-up, quietly progressive Catherine nicely contrasting with the relaxed yet far more traditional David. They are at once amiable and abrupt, interrupting one another, speaking in unison and fondly reminiscing the past as they pace the room, tidying things up but slowly unloading their emotional baggage. It's a beautiful portrait of a life lived together and a devotion that transcends words.”
Naeem Kapadia, Crystalwords