Like the average time-starved Singaporean, I often rely on my trusty algorithm to recommend something new that aligns with my taste. As non-English language TV shows and movies go, Mongolia’s productions have never featured on my ever-growing list of must-sees.
So I felt oddly nervous while waiting for an evening session of The Mongol Khan in the Mongolian State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet in August. Not only would the show be performed in Mongolian that night, I am admittedly the furthest thing from a theatre geek, my cultural diet preferences comprising more TV and movies than plays and musicals.
To be clear, The Mongol Khan is not about notorious figure Genghis Khan, whose conquests have gained him a controversial reputation in the West despite being revered in Mongolia. The play is instead set in the royal court of the ancient Hunnu (Xiongnu) Empire.
But it has all the ingredients of a binge-worthy modern drama: Adultery, swapped identities, manipulation, jealousy, deceit, revenge, and of course, a battle with the male ego.
A man has an affair with a woman whose husband rules the land. The clandestine lovers have a child, whom the woman’s husband rightfully suspects isn’t his. And so, rather than risk passing on his legacy to his wife’s illegitimate child, the husband chooses another woman’s child (who also has zero genetic relation to him, mind you) as his successor.
The wife’s lover won’t stand for it, wanting his biological son to remain in the running, so he swaps the two babies. Chaos ensues.
And that’s just the non-spoiler synopsis.
