LEGENDS (of the Golden Arches) offers living and breathing proof that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Joe Paradise Lui and Merlynn Tong share a common Singaporean-Chinese ancestry and a common pathway to theatre-making via Murdoch University, albeit in different timelines. Those timelines merged after several years of close friendship and shared bonds, and led them to co-create Legends, a new work produced by Performing Lines WA and commissioned by Perth Festival.
The premise starts out relatively simply as a conversation between two friends at their grandfathers’ funeral (not the same grandfather, but the same funeral, evidently) that turns into a healthy debate about whether they should embrace or reject cultural traditions. For those familiar with Lui’s back catalogue, it will come as no surprise who argues for radicalism, while Tong entreats Lui with tense fervour to join her in a traditional funerary ritual that will protect their ancestors and appease the gods. They both dig in their heels until the gods do a Macca’s-induced deus ex machina, sending the pair into the underworld to learn some Very Important Lessons.
While Legends is a two-hander, it feels BIG, even operatic at times, thanks to its invocation of mythological beings through epic audiovisuals (Wendy Yu), a neon-lit palace (Kate Baldwin, lights and Cherish Marrington, set), RPDR All Stars-worthy costumes (Nicole Marrington), three giant inflatable wacky wavers-cum-puppets, and of course, Lui’s ever-ingenious musical composition. Backstory, exposition, and cultural debate led by Tong’s commanding, captivating presence in the first act gave way to unbridled silliness and play in the second, letting Lui step into an onstage mischief the wider public has rarely seen.
The third act presented a few false endings and an arguably overlong catharsis/reckoning, but the sum total payoff is well worth the show’s meandering moments. Legends retains an independence of spirit and a looseness of form that pays homage to Lui’s roots as a theatre Renegade here in the wild west, while Tong’s precision and stylistic agility lends a steady and sure hand to round up and drive the duo’s thesis home.
Tong and Lui’s show appeals to migrants of all kinds, even Westerners like myself, who left home for someplace better, different, safer, kinder; sometimes the longer we stay away, the more mythical our origins seem.
CICELY BINFORD
LEGENDS (of the Golden Arches) by Joe Lui and Merlynn Tong, produced by Performing Lines WA and presented by Perth Festival, played in the Studio Underground at the State Theatre Centre of WA from 21 – 24 Feb 2025. For more information on this past event, click here.
