Dramatic Excellence

Heh listening to the Amélie de Montmartre soundtrack borrowed by Thong now, and feeling sublime. Just came back from another wonderful TSD Public Performance, and once again, was wowed by their professionalism and power. The performances that we watched were all strong work. Heh, I made a really stupid screw-up with the time though, so we made it there finally almost 1h late, but we were still in time to catch 5 performances. On the way me, Thong and Chern were discussing what to do for tomorrow's party (which shall remain secret for the time being for the sake of the game =P) and plans for after A's - a budget airline trip to an exotic location like Thailand or Bali. Mmm...definitely something to look forward to, if we can pull it off.

Anyway, today's performances were breathtaking. Started with a rendition of the hilarious play The Importance of Being Earnest. Hehheh, the veneer of civility was stretched to the limit as the two women transit from cordial guest and host to vicious rivals. Their uptightness did make for some brilliant comic moments, especially with the diaries and the...diabetes-inducing tea =P And then we were shuttled off into the black box to watch Shaun's rendition of a monologue from The Ice Man Cometh.

Good grief, that boy can sure act! His accent was amazing, so naturally African-American that you can just see the dark skin on him. All the colloquialisms were rendered believable by that accent, I think; if it hadn't been practiced to perfection, the Harlem talk would have just seemed trite and pretentious. As it was, I could feel the electric energy of black America in his acting. And the passage he chose was brilliant...talking about an enduring and forbidden love, and Shaun brought out the anguish and desperation of the love story really powerfully. Such an idyllic image of love, their utter dedication to each other - the power of the moment was clear to see, and I think the audience felt as strongly as Shaun's character did about the girl by the end of the piece. It's that kind of wistful yearning to believe that something like that could actually happen in real life, I think. And his superb acting made the whole passage eminently believable.

Then in was off to watch Xi Jie's Beatles piece. A splendid shrine to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, resplendent with orchids, dolls, psychedelic poster and Xi Jie wearing only flowers (or so it was meant to seem), and pulsing Beatles music to expertly manipulate the atmosphere. The plot was simple, a kid growing up in the time of the Beatles, looking to the band for ideological guidance, and then growing out of it as the band broke up. As they played the news report of Lennon being shot, Xi Jie puts on a sleek business suit over the flower costume. As Imagine played, Xi Jie receives a briefcase and PDA. And at the end, when the music has faded out poignantly, she takes off her last hippie symbol, the peace necklace she had worn all the while. When the music was playing, I had tingles running up and down my spine, positively...you could just close your eyes and imagine it as a radio play, the soundplay was so powerfully done. It was a simple idea, of a young idealism mellowed by the real world, but it was rendered touchingly profound by the intricately constructed shrine to the Beatles and the ingenius music.

And that was followed by Conan's group piece, the sci-fi Matrix-esque dystopia where a group of scientists were trying to reignite the human spirit in several "test subjects" by placing them in a simulated natural environment. A mirror brought out narsiccism, a radio playing music evoked wonder, and Lego blocks inspired constructiveness and destructiveness. And throughout it, instincts of curiosity, selfishness, tenderness and imitation drove the actions of the "test subjects". Nice moments included one of them trying to attach a green Lego block to a leaf, and Conan constructing a figure of a man while another crushed a previously constructed figure. They added new subplots, though, with robots infiltrating the experiment, and eventually the "test subjects" escaping and taking over the experiment, and the scientists placed in the simulation they had previously been running. Raised questions about what constitutes a human nature, whether human nature is innate or constructed. And of course, raised the issue of who's in control, who's playing God. I liked the added bit at the end, something that I wholly didn't see coming, even after watching their prelim version. In Chern's words, "An excellent notion excellently executed."

Speaking of God, we met Him (Her) in the last piece. For God's Sake, apparently a self-written comedy, it showed God and Lucifer putting the last touches on Adam and Eve, and God being befuddled over why he could not make them have sex and reproduce. Lucifer's solution: to elevate sex to the level of worshipping God, so humans would be equally eager to do both. To do this, a certain apple had to be strategically placed. Interesting notions raised by the piece, like the notion that God put the apple tree in the garden because he had intended for men to become Godlike under his tutelage, and then deciding against this because he had tried once with Lucifer to groom a protege and only created a devilish rival. But poignant points aside, it was hilariously pulled off!

Line of the night: "There must be other ways to worship You besides deciding not to eat a piece of fruit."

The altercation between God and Lucifer was hilariously crafted; whoever wrote the script was a genius indeed =) Like Lucifer intentionally pissing God off to demonstrate his predictability. And their voyeuristic Temptation-Island survey of the two humans via CCTV =P Needless to say the night ended on an explosive note with this piece.

After that, we (Kay Hwee had joined us) were busy being flabbergasted at the whole power of the night, and JC and Grace showed us around the facilities, and the others spent some more time in righteous outrage about the splendid rooms of TSD =D Hehheh, the shows themselves were top-notch, but to see the others enjoying them too was a whole new layer of enjoyment. An audience full of admiration and respect for the dramatists is about as good as it gets in show-business after all. I'm glad that we managed to catch the shows, even if we were 1h late. They certainly saw the power of the Singapore theatre at its best, and I hope they can see why I have so much enthusiasm for the programme.

Yes...seeing the shows tonight made me feel good again. Back to drama, the essence of drama, the full sensory experience that communicates so many shades of meaning at once, the power of the stage and the Godlike entities that manipulate that microcosm. Once again the professionalism of the TSD crew has been unequivocally demonstrated, and there was that distinct feeling that real drama was being put up tonight. I always love walking into that part of the school, because there is always a deep feeling that this is the way that it should be done, the nurturing and exploration of drama. It just feels right to be there.

And it feels right to have been part of it. I do feel rather privileged to be part of TSD at all, even if only tangentially. I don't want to entertain any illusions; I am not part of the culture and community of TSD. And yet, for the small part that I was allowed to play in Grace's DS, I already feel deeply privileged. Because it's not everyday you get to work with people as passionate, driven and dedicated as the dramatists in TSD, in any context. Heh, tonight, seeing all the familiar faces in the cast and crew, I felt really good...perhaps a sense of deep respect augmented with a feeling of pride, that these people were finally getting their due recognition, and they were doing what they were meant to be doing all along. And to think that I had been a part of the process, even if I had nothing to do with the product as it finally appeared tonight...

All this, of course, thanks to the chance encounter with Grace at CAP last year. A real thank-you to you! =) It has been a richly rewarding experience, all aspects of it. It's probably mainly because of her that I'm still enthusiastic about drama. As only through her could I actually do some drama, do something with a stage. And for that, I am deeply grateful.

Shall go back on Sunday for a second dose. And I'll remember to be on time this time =D

pondered by phoenican @ 8.7.05