4 posts tagged “theatre”

Cast: Lin Zhaohua Theatre Studio (林兆华戏剧工作室)
Synopsis: Set within the onslaught of capitalism and a period of rapid social change, the play focuses on an aristocratic family's decline to the extent that they have to sell their estate, which includes a cherry orchard, in order to pay off their bills. Lead character, Lubov Andreyevna Ranevsky, rushes back from Paris to stop the auction of her estate and to save her beloved cherry orchard - a representative and reminder of her fond memories of her childhood. Despite the impending auction of the cherry orchard, the owners still indulged in old habits like spending hordes of money thoughtlessly, even though they were nearly broke, and spending time in self-denial and oblivion to their dire situation.
Playwright: Anton Chekhov 

It was not an easy play to sit through, though it was only half the length of Beijing Ren. In fact, nearly an hour into the play, I was struggling to keep awake. I finally had to prop myself forward to prevent any snoring from happening. The play was successful in the sense that, it managed to convey the sense of the characters living in their own world, in self-escapism and denial, such that although they were talking to each other, they were also talking past each other. No one was really listening to anyone else and no one really cared about anyone else - each lived in their own minds, each so burdened and weighed down by their own troubles, each encased in their own little universe, they couldn't and wouldn't realise the societal changes that were happening all around them. And for all that, the play came across as really tedious and heavy-going. But perhaps, that was what the director had intended - the point was conveyed successfully, but audiences were... put off.

The set was great though, in fact it was amazing. The entire stage was transformed into an orchard and there were overhanging layers, which I later realised (after looking at a picture in the house programme) to be rolling clouds in greyish-orange hues - to portray the desolateness of the situation, and there were also cherry trees which were bare - the obvious symbolism here which I needn't add.

This would not be a play that I would recommend for novice theatre goers. 

Short + Sweet is touted as the "biggest little play festival in the world". Indeed, the concept is an excellent one - a showcase of a series of plays, under 10 minutes. Originated from Australia, the festival came to Singapore last year (did I get my dates right?) and this year, a new component was added for Mandarin Theatre. In the course of a discussion with LL, we both agreed that this was an excellent platform for theatre practitioners all round, especially for Mandarin Theatre in Singapore, since its development lagged behind English Theatre. Anyway, here's a quick review of the top 10 shortlisted Mandarin plays:

(Note: The italicised words are quoted from the programme booklet - simple one-liners supposed to capture the spirit of the play - which, sometimes... did not always worked as planned.)

1) Futile (多余):
Would you choose to end your life or continue living in uncertainty when your love life, friendships, aspirations, religious beliefs and place in society no longer exist?

Play started off with a girl about to commit suicide when she was stopped by a, what I supposed was, Satan/Satan's henchman. He promised her a view of another life in an alternate world whereby she could stay if she liked. She was brought to a mer-world (mermaid, merpeople...) where she realised she had become something like a fish in an aquarium, and was subsequently frightened to death. What was the whole point of this plot??!! To make things worse, the guy brought out a tank full of goldfish (punning on the homonym of the Chinese title I suppose), scooped some out and made 2 members of the audience (one of the unfortunate ones was Saresha, by the way) hold the plastic containers, then made them pour the fish back into the tank. The whole play was really duh in my opinion, and it made an ominous start to the entire evening.

2) Help! (倭药墙坚拟):
Help! displays the emotions in two characters discovering what they would want out of each other. Would the need of their unfulfilled intimacy bring a struggle in their relationship?

The story was actually about a woman who wanted to act out a rape fantasy with her boyfriend; and after numerous self-declared NGs, the boyfriend got so fed-up (and probably super aroused) about not being able to make love, and the woman got so frustrated as she felt that her boyfriend didn't understand her nor her needs at all. She wanted to break up with him, and he got pissed off and then the woman suddenly felt that he did love her afterall, and they made love (and presumably lived happily ever after). The parts were reasonably acted and the ending sweet. However, we did not quite buy the "suddenly discovered true love" part. There're clearly plenty of unspoken unhappiness, problems and issues that were just swept under the carpet!!! However, the script had potential for development.

P/S: This play was the only one shortlisted for the gala finals this weekend.

3) Madness (疯):
Madness, confusion, and a family tragedy intersect.

The plot centered around a useless father (who depended on his wife to fund his gambling habit and decadent lifestyle) and a young son helpless from taking care of an overworked and dying mother. The young man, out of mistaken love for his mother, coerced his father to smother the dying woman to death and then went berserk when her spirit informed him that death wasn't what she wanted. He was institutionalised in the end. Unfortunately, due to the weak scripting and the, at best, superficial acting, the darkness of the entire plot wasn't well brought out. It probably would have some development potential, but I'm not a fan of such depressing plots (one depressing play a year at most for me!).

4) Night Visit (夜访):
A clash of values between the young and old inspires this tale of love and memories.

A young woman met her dead grandmother's ghost on the latter's death anniversary and through a series of painful recollections finally realised why her ghost would return every year that day. The script, while a bit dated, wasn't too bad. The 2 actresses also managed to invoke audience "participation" by pretending a member was the young girl's sweetheart. Neither the acting nor script was strong, but there was nothing much about to dislike this play.

5) No Where, Now Here:
At a bus stop, strangers are discussing their journeys. Have you decided on your journey?

The play started off with a fight between two men over a girl at the bus stop, then the scene changed to about 10 strangers on a bus - each with their individual problems, idiosyncrasies and agendas. I thought the play actually started off with promise (although LL said that the beginning could be done away with, which I now agree), but the direction of the play eventually really went... like the title... NOWHERE.

6) The Laptop (手提):
A father and his son are at the airport with a laptop. Danger lurks ahead.

Can I just say that... this is the WORST of all the plays that evening. Firstly, the plot resolved around a MOTHER and her son (note the errors in the programme booklet). Then the plot really stank. It was about how a mother so feared that her son would commit the crime of (probably) drug-trafficking again, that she took away what she suspected was drugs hidden inside his laptop in his bag. (It's porn actually). The script was completely pointless and repetitive to the point of being painful. I could feel the mother's pain (in the wrong way) as I literally wanted to strangle both of them to death so that the play could come to an end. It was only 10 minutes, but it felt like 100 minutes. I also didn't like the end message of the play - even though she believed her son had fallen back into his evil ways, she continued to 包庇 him by taking his "loot" away, to shift the crime onto herself. This is the act of 溺爱 at its worst - the very worst thing a parent can do to his/her child!

7) The Last Straw (终极):
Ring... Ring... Ring... Oh mmmmm... #$*&%!!!

We liked this play best. A man was so caught by his nagging mother, unfaithful wife, wilful daughter, unreasonable colleague, messenger-of-bad-news friend and bullying travel retailer that he couldn't even have a personal yoga session in peace. At the end, all the internalisation of the frustration that life dealt him (with nowhere to vent nor any way to resolve his problems) and the pain at his wife's betrayal came to a head. I thought it was nicely scripted and the acting was controlled. Unfortunately, seems like Singapore audiences prefer love stories to scripts that dealt with the very real, but unpleasant sides of life.

8) Qiang's Winter Days (强子的冬天):
How different are love relationships between parents and lovers? Will they affect one's identity and role in life?

Set in (what I assumed to be) feudalistic China, a widow literally desperately married her son to another widow (because how can one be unmarried and/or childless right? That'd be so 大逆不道 because 不孝有三、无后为大 right??!! Of course such feudalistic thinking persists till today!!!) because she'd only die in peace if he's married (happy or not doesn't matter). The wife promptly threw her mother-in-law out once she married into the family and forbade the husband to even visit his mother. Things eventually came to a head when during a festival the filial son tried to bring his mother some dumplings, got discovered by the wife, and the mother had to go on her knees to beg her daughter-in-law for forgiveness! Eventually, in order to allow her son to extricate himself between the 2 women, the mother killed herself. Is this like a super dated script or what? By the way, the mother was addressed as "娘" ok! I seriously hope I'd never have to watch such a play again because the message behind the plot just sends shivers down my spine. Marriage is supposed to solve all problems??!! Jeez...

9) Shelter from the Rain (躲雨):
Two characters are playing a game in the rain. Why?

In retrospect, I kinda liked this play. Taking shelter in a phone booth from the heavy downpour, Woman A refused to let Woman B share the shelter, even after the rain had stopped. In retaliation, Woman B resorted to all kinds of 小动作 to irritate Woman A, which eventually led to a cat-fight between the 2 of them. It was quite hilarious watching the fight, as they took the banner (the prop for the phone booth) and did some very simple acrobatic-like stunts. The fight only ended when both admitted that they needed the phone booth to make very private phone calls to their lovers, hence, their unwillingness to use their mobile phones. I thought that was the twist of the plot, but the twist actually came at the very end. Ha!

10) That Was A Big One! (那根好大哟!):
How does one man measure up against another?

This play would rank third last in my personal ranking. It started off with a midget having sex with a prostitute, then the prostitute fights off his constant pawing to ponder about (of all things!) love! *roll eyes* And then halfway through, they discovered the house was leaking and the stupid midget stuck his arm into the hole to stop the leaking. All the crude jokes and vulgar sexual innuendos aside, the script really amounted to NOTHING! And the acting was worse! The actress's acting "chops" consisted mainly of running around madly on the stage in her super high heels and looking bewildered in her bad make-up. Oh Godz, it gave me such a headache, I couldn't stop laughing for 15 seconds after the play ended.

Retrospective:
Even after the evening, I still felt that Short + Sweet is still an excellent platform to develop local theatre practitioners. It'd be a great platform for the industry players to learn from each other and hopefully, in 5-10 years time, Mandarin Theatre would have developed a much greater way ahead. 

This is one performance I'm not quite sure how to review. Perhaps I should break it up into separate components and talk about each individually.

Awaking is a production conceived and directed by Ong Keng Sen of TheatreWorks; conducted by Maestro Tsung Yeh and performed by Kunqu actress Wei Chun Rong with the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre, Musicians of the Globe (led by Philip Pickett) and with 11 musicians from the Singapore Chinese Orchestra. The production brought together Shakespeare's plays and Tang Xian Zu's The Peony Pavilion (牡丹亭), with new music compositions by Qu Xiao Song.

It's always a pleasure listening to a SCO performance and always, always a great pleasure to watch Yeh Tsung conduct on stage. And this time, besides listening to them play their instruments, certain parts of the music required them to chant softly. The chanting reminded me of a monk chanting Buddhist scriptures and it was very soothing to listen to. 

The Musicians of the Globe were also very good. The soprano was bright and clear and the music was soothing and lull-inducing. :P Saresha said it's garden music, which was very apt as I could imagine people lounging, chatting, eating, drinking and laughing in gardens - men in their suits and women in their gowns and parasols. :P

The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre actually only sent 2 musicians - a dizi and a percussionist (the latter, if I don't remember wrongly!). The instrumentalists were ok, playing the endlessly looping tunes of the familiar kunqu. But when the actress came out to sing, it felt... as if I was sitting in a travelling car and listening to a radio, with varying degrees of frequency. Sometimes the sounds are bright and loud, and at other times, it's as if the car was going through some tunnel and I could hear it and then don't hear it. It was very irritating and I began to wonder if kunqu's performed in this way! I mean, kunqu music is not unfamiliar to me, but I'd never heard nor watched it perform before, so I wasn't sure. And she's supposed to be at the top of her field, someone with high accolades and stuff. But the only impression I had of her was... "HUH?"

The set was... interesting. The musicians all sat on transparent plastic chairs and their music stands had attached lights, which were controlled by the lighting crew. Then there was some kind of platform in the shape of a wave which rose up to the end of the stage. On that raised platform was a lone white plastic chair and above it, (of all things!) a chandelier! At the end of Act 1, the actress (after doing her stuff - waving her sleeves, etc) collapsed into the plastic chair and I was thinking to myself, you mean got plastic chairs in the olden times one meh? Oh yes, and the costumes were just... weird! The costumes worn by the Musicians of the Globe were still ok - floral design and the ladies had white soft sleeves attached. However, when the SCO musicians came out, all I could think of was - old jazz band of the 20s/30s - so dated!!! The actress performed in traditional opera garb for 2 acts but in the final act, she shed her wig and costume and came out with a long-sleeved dress that fell to the mid of her calves. The fabric was similar to what the musicians were donned in too. My first thought was kunqu had become Noh. It was just all so... avant garde-ish and weird to me.

Frankly, besides the design of the stage, costumes and lighting, I'm not sure what other things TheatreWorks was in for. I was wondering what in the world was so special or niche about this production that required the services of Ong Keng Sen 他老人家? And near the end, after a most sleep-inducing Act 3, I had an epiphany. I finally realised why the production was called "Awaking". There's no choice but for the audience to wake up at the end, because there were 2 loud clashings of the cymbals and then a strong bright light shone on the audience to ensure there was no one sleeping at the end. And at the end, although I won't call this a bad production, I won't say it's a cutting edge production either. Separately, the 3 groups of musicians were fine. But when meshed together in a single production, the gelling of the Globe and SCO just didn't quite make sense. Saresha mentioned that such productions were very self-indulgent for the performing artists and I couldn't help but agree. It's also as if art was going back to Mozart's age where only the rich and elite could have access to. Such productions are a bit too much for me. With all due respect to OKS, no more of his works for me in future.

I want to end of this post with one final grouse. The programme booklet rambled on about the biographies of the key personnel like OKS, Qu Xiao Song, Yeh Tsung, etc... There's even 2 full pages listing TheatreWorks' Board of Directors. But the names of all the musicians were crammed into 1 page, and they were classified under the organisation they belonged to, WITHOUT any mention of what instrument each played. I think that's being very disrespectful and paying no heed to the musicians. Without them, the core and spine of the production wouldn't have been possible, so surely, listing their instruments, even if it's in parentheses, next to their names, wouldn't have been asking alot. Would it?!     

A co-production between DramaBox and the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre and co-commissioned by the Singapore Season China. "Drift is a tale of two cities that spans across four generations. Caught in the speed of modernisation, culture and memories are contested. We continue to search where our hearts belong, held afloat by the longing desire for life itself."

Performed by 4 actors and 1 actress who basically stood on an elevated platform throughout the entire 100 minute performance, the 4 actors, who took on different characters at different points to tell a tale of the two generations of the family, portrayed them with sensitivity and a tinge of black humour. I'd say it's a good play overall. But I was just wondering, for such a script, it's nothing new, nothing inspiring, nothing that'd be called cutting edge. In fact, such contents are not new materials, just... re-packaged. So I was wondering, how come it warranted a co-commission by the Singapore Season? (Disclaimer: I'm speaking from a purely personal basis)

And before I went, I was wondering "Lim Kay Siu can speak Mandarin meh?" He spoke in English most of the time, playing a banana Singaporean, who... toys with China girls in Singapore and China, thus in the process breaking up his family. His role was that of the funnyman as he invoked the most laughter during the entire play.In any case, it was still a fairly enjoyable play. However, the theme and the direction of the play was really like the title - Drift. In the end, it's still drifting along, not really going anywhere, not really heading towards any particular direction. I guess, that's life? As one searches for one's direction in life, there're often times when we find ourselves drifting and not really knowing where we're going or what we're doing. So the question really is, do we just go along with the flow and let the waves eventually bring us to somewhere? Or do we try to paddle towards somewhere? 

Will we ever know?