Theatre / “White Pearl”, by Anchuli Felicia King. At The Playhouse, until April  30, Reviewed by SAMARA PURNELL.

IN the Singapore headquarters of cosmetic company Clearday, the proverbial has just hit the fan.

And the internet: a leaked marketing campaign has gone viral for all the wrong reasons and the all-female staff at Clearday are jolted into action.

Although members of the Asian cast argue that the ad for skin-lightening cream (with its questionable approval and mysterious dissemination) is not racist, just funny to its intended audience, they concede it will be a PR disaster.

Amongst layers of perceived racism and cultural assumptions, both within the Asian demographic and further abroad, the group scrambles to come up with Band-Aid solutions, excuses and a scapegoat. The blame-game begins with even the props adding to the finger-pointing. One suggestion is to focus on Clearday’s universal appeal, with a unifying message: All women hate themselves.

Anchuli Felicia King wrote “White Pearl” after skin-lightening ads went viral, in 2016 – deemed “racist” by the global populace. Growing up in Thailand, King was used to seeing these ads, targeting Asians, and wasn’t offended, but thanks to social media and globally projected ideas of racism and offensiveness, she realised that, “content could no longer exist in a national vacuum. It was suddenly accountable to a global discourse on race, being critiqued in a forum not particularly well suited to nuance”. Hence, “White Pearl” was born.

The drama, directed by Priscilla Jackman, unfolds within a clean, sleek and brightly-lit set designed by Jeremy Allen. It is entirely convincing as a modern, fast-paced, cosmetics think tank, housing a millennial corporate culture. A lot of the action also takes place in the on-set toilet.

Leading these young, career-orientated females is Priya (Manali Datar). With her Indian lineage and British command of English, she is the arrogant, loud, dialled-up to 100 CEO of Clearday.

Xiao (Shirong Wu) spends most of her time crying inconsolably, in a wickedly delightful portrayal of a girl burdened with guilt and secrets and terrified of losing her job and being returned to China.

Much of the comedy comes from Sunny – a Thai girl with all the Americanisms. Melissa Gan has wonderful comedic timing and sinks her teeth into the script and character.

Japanese Ruki (Kaori Maeda-Judge) has naively left her job at Chanel for this one. She epitomises politeness, ethics and decorum and provides the show’s dynamics, being the only quietly-spoken, contained character.

South Korean chemist, Soo-Jin (Deborah An) spends her time reminding Priya that she is not from North Korea, before dropping a bombshell about the R&D of Clearday products, which is disturbing to say the least, not that anyone is concerned!

Nicole Milinkovic as American girl Built, is brash, obsessed with her phone and trying to escape her completely awful, French ex-boyfriend, Marcel (Stephen Madsen). Marcel is amusingly ridiculous and plays an evil hand in proceedings, making an unsavoury deal with Built, the outcome of which is disturbing.

There are no subtleties in “White Pearl” and no topic is given genuine gravitas. The grab-bag of subplots and subjects touched on are quite sinister. King’s intention was to throw the kitchen sink at what was included in the script.

On the occasions when the langage is explicit, it comes across as if to demonstrate there are no holds barred, intended to shock, but it doesn’t, rather, it just seems somewhat forced.

Viewer comments, hashtags and tweets about the viral video are projected on to the set. As the viewer numbers tick over and the KFC buckets pile ever higher on the office desk, the wheels fall off at Clearday, with a free-fall of insults, in a strange ending, complete with smoke.

The dialogue is snappy, the mannerisms identifiably entertaining, and the comedic timing is spot on. Hilarious descriptions and commentary is interspersed with an appealing soundtrack.

As ridiculous and wacky as this story is, it seems completely feasible. Until then, it offers a refreshing opportunity to laugh without consequence in a world mad with PC.