Huayi Festival' 08

Watched two theatrical performances this Huayi Festival.

'What is Man?' and 'Like Shadows'

'What is Man?', directed by Edward Lam (Madame Bovary is Me, What is Fantasy?) is an ensemble piece that deals with the very characteristics and psyche that define man. This is the second time that I have watched it, the first time was in Taiwan.

The second time I watched it, I discovered the flaws of the script and direction. Interestingly, it was still considered a multi-layered examination of Man as it was split into four different layers, the observer (director in audition), the characters in the audition, the characters that the auditionees play and meaning behind the narrative arc.

'Like Shadows', directed and written by Stan Lai (Sand and a Distant Star, Secret Love in Beach Blossom Land) was at best, so-so. The tableaux constructed was hauntingly beautiful, but the narrative arc stubbornly refused to move past its first two layers into the promising material that it attempted to discuss.

Fortunately, I went in refusing to believe in reputations and I didn't come out too disappointed, unlike certain Singaporeans who bombarded the comtemporary master of theatre tactlessly in the post show talk.

Shanghai Nights produced by our very own local theatre company Toy Factory, written and directed by Goh Boon Teck (Titoudao, Longhouse) was just not worth watching. So I gave it a miss.

Well, but then, this is my own opinion.

Haha

Child's Play

Read on if you want a upmost unique perception of something extremely ordinary.
This is 'Act 20', a children's production.

Children's productions usually have hidden moral values within them.... And since they are watched by kids, they cannot be too hard to understand.

Thus it compromises the depth of the play.

But Act 20 is a multi-layered show filled with sexual undertones and homoerotic tensions....

Just think about it......

Why are guys playing with balls in the opening act?

And then girls join in after awhile with bigger balls.......

Why there's a guy banging doors which are supposedly male?

And the doors are homoerotically coloured red?

Why do 2 parents not bring their daughter along on an outing to Mount Faber? It hints of strange and awkward inconvenience.....

Is it because they wanted to do something immoral up on the hill.....

We see a king running the country in his tumultous court but where is his queen? Or even concubines?

What happens when the king needs to release his carnal fustrations?

When the Prime Minister beside him offers help, does it suggest more than simply straightening a crooked back?

A village only has six dogs and about fifteen chickens...... Perhaps it is an indication of a thriving trade deep down in the dirty and dark underbelly of the village heartland?

Does a male cat catch a male rat only because its his nature? What exactly is his nature?

And then we have a whole gang of boys and girls riding wooden horses vibrantly..... And they proclaim that a dirty alley is their heaven.

What dark secrets are they trying to hide?

Would they be reaching out for help by singing about it loudly?

Children productions always don't mean much to me..... They are always as complex as a plain sheet of photocopying paper....

But 'Act 20' wins me over with its very subtle and colourful expression of its ultimately dark and forbidden thematics...

I mean, who can really achieve such a quietly powerful standard?

Haha

翔鹰 2007

翔鹰 2007 is a show that I watched in the middle of Huay Guan rehearsals on Sunday.....

Just an update. I have been so busy since Saturday..... Both Saturday and Sunday I rushed about madly attending all rehearsal slots and doing all sorts of administrative stuff......

Was damn tired...... It was totally non-stop from morning all the way to night.....

Then got this very troublesome person called Gekleng who is a good friend..... He wrote and directed one of the shows in 翔鹰(Xiangying). So had to go down and support.... In the middle of a super busy day known to all as Sunday.....

Xiangying is a school production that is done by Anglican High School bi-annually. One of my closest teacher Lan Lao Shi teaches at Anglican High as well.....

Gekleng is doing a show as an alumnus of the school

I fell alseep during the second and third show because really damn tired..... Halfway through the first show, I got a call (which I didn't pick up) and a few messages which disturbed me from watching.....

So finally, after the break, I made sure I stayed awake for Gekleng's show and fortunately, I managed to finish watching it......

Gekleng's show, 心里有树 is essentially an exploration of how people deal with emotions of reminiscense, sentimentality.

In terms of the narrative, there was largely high aesthetic unity, meaning that most parts manage to propel the plot forward. However, there were some parts that I felt could have been done away with to tighten the plot.....

Besides, I also felt that the script was rather uneven, as there were some parts that were brilliantly written but also it had parts where the whole narrative seems to sag.....

I don't know what's wrong with me.... but lately I get agitated easily and always feel tears well up in my eyes easily..... At some parts in the show, it seems that I could feel the emotions projected by the cast and the script so strongly that I got all emotional

Perhaps its just me.... But I would rather credit the director for moving me as an audience

I felt the thematics of the script were not convincingly written and I couldn't really feel the conviction that the playwright had of the thematics that he explored

In addition, it also seems to me that the script decided to border on a preaching tone. A moral has two sides but the script seems to have taken the voice of one side of the moral more strongly than the other.....

Despite these problems, the actors were brilliantly and focused throughout the whole show.....

They were able to grasp the rhythm of the lines quite impressively, some of them more so than the others....

It is the cast that managed to bring a so-so script to look like a fantastic show......

Though the cast were good, they were not without flaws. Dewei couldn't inject a certain degree of flexibility and softless in his articulation and Andrew lost control of his emotions on stage, making the show look melodramatic at some point....

The set design was quite good despite the technical limitations that NAFA theatre had. Lights were okay but not particularly impressive....

Though this show's standard is still not close to a fantastic play 夜长梦多 I watched at the last 翔鹰, I would say it is a breakthrough from 全民恋爱

So in the end, 心里有树 gets 3.5 stars from me.

I would like to thank Nat, Karin, Rachel, Hazel, Weiliang Eugene, ShanShan Kunhua and especially Gekleng for the wonderful presents that I received for my birthday.....

To be honest, I am quite touched and surprised.... because no friend had ever remembered the small small things that I said.... No friend ever keeps my taste in mind before they buy presents also.... Not in a long time at least.....

Thank you very much......

AND I want to thank you.

It might really look like nothing at all at first sight, but when I read the words on it, I know its a really special thing...... And I can't believe you took the effort.....

In the end, its the thought that counts.... And I am glad to know it had thought in it....

0501

Went to watch 0501, the latest show presented by The Fingers Players

Good is all I can say.

Can't really comment on it because you have to watch it to understand how good it is.....

Can't wait for their production in the Arts Festival in June, something about Wong Kar Wai and his movie thematics. Written by Chong Tze Chien. (Pan Island Expressway, Furthest North Deepest South, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, First Family)

Woo~. This semester, my film art module studied quite abit about Wong Kar Wai films and his thematics.

Can't wait to see how our very own playwright maverick reinterprets his themes.

0501 is presented by a galaxy of theatre talents, including Doreen Toh (Cat people by Theatre Practice, Trash by Drama Box) Darren Ng (Furthest North Deepest South, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Twisted, I'm Just a Piano Teacher, First Family) Lim Woan Wen (First Family, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Twisted, I'm Just a Piano Teacher) Tan Wan Sze (Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea)

Titoudao

Yesterday went to watch 'Titoudao' with Weiliang...... Must really thank Toy Factory for extending its run anyway. Otherwise I would miss this opportunity.

Some seasoned theatre go-ers love to slam Toy Factory for their very commercial oriented performances that eventually fail to fulfil the expectations of certain audiences.

Examples are like Cabaret and Longhouse (Singapore Huayi Festival 2006), both of which I have watched and found true to the trend......

But really, 'Titoudao' is not one of them......

Yes it is bright, bubbly and entertaining, sprinkled with lots of jokes in between and crass humor at times.....

But eventually, there was a very important message at the end of this production which rings loud and clear in theatre practioners' hearts, which Pam Oei managed wonderfully to carry through to the audience.

It then got me thinking, 'if people think wayang is low class now, will the future generation think lowly of us theatre people in the future?'

To which I got quite emotional......

Seeing Pam Oei in the second last scene where she directly interacted with audience in her character, I got very touched by her performance......

Then I started crying..... Not out loud.... but silent tearing. In fact, I was more emotional in Titoudao than during 'Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land' by Stan Lai during Huayi 2007.

Titoudao was good, one of Goh Boon Teck's better plays anyway.

So Boonseng and Kunhua, you all miss another good performance. Its quite different from the last one 3 years ago actually.

After the performance, it got more light-hearted when DaeGekLeng pestered us to have supper with him.......

And stupid Gekleng really thought that the car boot can sit people.

Because weiliang's car changed to two-seater, gekleng say he dun mind sitting in the boot from Ang Mo Kio to Yishun because it is a short while.

Lucky I and Weiliang smarter than him, if not by the time we reached Yishun, we would have a dead body to handle.

Haha

Everything BUT The Brain

Today I went to watch a very good English play at Esplanade Theatre Studios.....

By Action Theatre called Everything But The Brain. Starring theatre veterans Gerrard Chew and Pam Oei

The script was well done and layered properly... but honestly, I didnt really like it because it was abit too wordy..... The cast spoke at great lengths.... Almost like a word-vomit session.... Could literally see the cast vomitting words....

Wonder if Pam Oei felt like dying when she was trying to memorise all her lines.... I would....

Everything was just imaginative..... very creative.....

OMG!! Everyone in the world is like turning crazy over Spongebob lah.....

I guess its all right.... I like Mr Squarepants and his dumb friend Patrick too..... Its like really so stupid that it becomes funny....

Everytime I watched Nicklelodeon I would be literally laughing out loud.... And not all the fake LOLs I put into my messages when someone tries to tell me something stupid

The jokes uses everything but the brain of the writer.... Haha

Very few things make me laugh out loud.... Sometimes not even 全民大闷锅

So Spongebob is really good I guess..... Hey everybody, get onto Spongebob Express now.... And laugh your troubles away....

But do you realise something?

I can never ever be Spongebob... And you will never ever be Patrick.....

Because unlike Spongebob, I have way too many inner demons I need to fight....

And for you? You are not as carefree and 放得开 as Patrick....

Please loh..... You have a brain, Patrick doesnt

Maybe I am thinking too much..... Maybe you never ever wanted to be Patrick in the first place.....

Today went Safra with DaeGekLeng after the show..... He wanted to discuss our short films... For those who still dont know who is DaeGekLeng he is the one-half of the now de-funct pop group called Yesterday (See MTV in previous posting)

Oh yah.... Talking about my short film.... I am going to make a make-or-break film... So I am looking for my actors liao..... Get ready to be the next superstars....

Back to the topic anyway, Safra Yishun is like damn fun.... I and Gekleng went to play arcade, bowling.... We wanted to play pool but decided against it because I was damn tired already.... So fast tired can only mean one thing.... I am getting old liao

Then we discovered some kiddy rides and I sat in one of them.... We love to do crazy things, especially when nobody is around to see you.... Then we sat in massage chairs.... And it was so fun and wonderful. But quite painful also......

And got one restaurant there damn cheap and wonderful ambience one..... My birthday banquet I want to hold it there.....Haha

Okay... enough crap.... Blog viewership is like going down by the minute.....

Haha