Those Who Can’t, Teach
Two weeks ago, I started my “exposition” to experience this year’s Singapore Arts Festival. My first stop? Haresh Sharma’s Those Who Can’t, Teach. Notice the significance of the comma in the title. It’s been a while so some thoughts might have been lost, but I’ll try to give what I recall. Jeremy has already reviewed it earlier 2 weeks back, so here’s mine.
This was actually a re-staging of the said title by Necessary Stage (same theatre group) and directed by the same director then, Alvin Tan, but with an updated context of present day school life and society. What I can say is that it made fighting my jetlag easy!
This new update was ‘drastically’ different from the original (you can find a copy of that on http://nora.nl.sg/). Yes, it was a school setting still with a dedicated Mrs Phua, an “usurping” Ricky and delinquent students. But society has changed much, what with technology, scandals, etc. However, the underlying issues are still the same and still exists. Problems kids face, the negligence, the system…
The show was very entertaining and funny at many points as we relate to what we have heard, seen or experienced. How difficult it is to balance work and family, making choices. So it’s true that teachers can only get married in either June or December only? It is very true how your teacher will influence you in future. If you have a good teacher, you’ll more likely be inspired. Then there are those scholars whom most know will have a clear path ahead of them, regardless of whether they can really do the job. And some who just take teaching as “just another job”.
However, it ended on a sad note, in my opinion, contrary to what some pointed out due to the “joyous” reminiscence of a celebration. How in the end, Mrs Phua, the dedicated teacher was left alone in an old folks’ home, going senile and regretting how she neglected her family. It was a poignant moment and was all her hard work really worthed it? Must ask the teachers. It was touching too to see that the most 恶劣 student was the one who came regularly to visit her. But he didn’t seem happy, having conformed to expectations of society, with regrets too.
As usual, the actors had to play more than 1 role. It’s funny how you know why some characters aren’t appearing because the actor was acting in another role, but they “point it out”. I think all the actors played their roles very well. It was interesting how the actors themselves came up with the portrayal of their roles, new script and interpretations (as they mentioned during the post-show dialogue), which they drew from their observations and personal experiences.
It was a good production, mainly on how well it relates to Singapore’s society and structure, and how well everything was played and acted out. Of course, it showed how dynamic theatre can be, the amount of improvisation and adaptability that a script can have. I think that’s how it is with plays that deals with social issues. I think Haresh and Alvin work really well together (it’s been so many years) and their openness to creativity are commendable as arts practitioners. One can’t be too 执著 at times. How everyone interprets a piece can vary greatly.
Gatz…A 7 Hour 40 Minutes Play
Event: Gatz (as part of the Singapore Arts Festival 2010)
Venue: Esplanade Theatre Studio
Run: 21st May – 23rd May 2010
Yes, I attended the famed play “Gatz” by New York-based theatre ensemble Elevator Repair Service (ERS) at the Esplanade Theatre Studio at 2pm this afternoon.
No, I didn’t stay for the whole thing, which was slated to end at around 940pm(!).
In fact, I left at the very first intermission at around 415pm.
Please don’t get me wrong, I didn’t leave because it was not good.
It was brilliant and had all the makings of a classic.
I left because I had something else to attend to in the evening, and because I was just too tired to go on any further.
(My stamina for plays only last for about 2 hours of so. I’ve never been pushed to more than 2 hours at a stretch before.)
“Gatz” was highly-recommended to me by a respected local theatre critic, so I decided to give it a shot.
It’s got one of the most interesting premises ever:
The whole play is so long because it’s basically a word-for-word reading of the entire book of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel “The Great Gatsby”.
It starts when a guy walks into his office, realises that his computer isn’t working that morning, stumbles upon the book “The Great Gatsby” on his desk, then starts reading it word-for-word from first page to the last.
(That’s why it takes almost 8 hours, including intermissions.)
And along the way, the people in the office start to somehow act along with whatever he’s reading from the book.
Interesting huh?
I think I’m going to read “The Great Gatsby” one day.
I only made it through till Chapter 3 of the reading this afternoon.
The Carnival of The Animals and Peter & The Wolf
This is a review which I wrote for the Singapore Arts Festival blog (here).
(Photos from “Peter & The Wolf”, courtesy of NAC.)
Date: 21st May 2010
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall
Time: 730pm
Picture this:
Old newspapers and cartons strewn all over the Esplanade Concert Hall, on the floor, the seats and even all over the stage, red & white cordon tape draped vertically across the stall seats such that you need to crouch under them to get to your seat, kids and adults alike playfully tossing balls of crushed newspaper at each other all throughout the concert hall, the occasional giant-paper-plane-made-of-newspaper being whizzed from the upper Circles down onto the stalls, a juggler up on stage doing pirouettes with clubs and white beanbags (up to seven beanbags at one point!), the “ushers” playfully leading an audience member up onto the stage and then back down again en route to his seat.
All this for a good twenty to thirty minutes before the actual programme starts.
Sounds crazy?
Why, it’s so…so…un-Singaporean!
Well, that’s exactly what transpired before the start of “The Carnival of The Animals and Peter & The Wolf” featuring the combined talents of acclaimed Kamchàtka Theatre Company (from Spain) and the Singapore Festival Orchestra at the Esplanade Concert Hall yesterday.
This was a fine example of absolutely wacky, zany, out-of-the-box artistic thinking which both delighted and startled Singapore audiences at the same time.
This production was targetted mainly at kids, and they did a fine job creating a world where there seemed to be no more rules as imposed by adults – everyone was a child once again, engaging in newspaper-ball fights, tossing paper aeroplanes around, playing pranks on one another…all this in the Esplanade Concert Hall, no less.
There is something about the Singaporean psyche that is somewhat uncomfortable with seeing something that goes too far out of the box, that appears to stray too far away from the OB markers.
But that is a story for another day.
Truth be told, the way the entire performance was conducted was like nothing else I’ve ever been to.
Fifteen minutes before the concert start-time of 730pm, no one was yet allowed into the Esplanade Concert Hall because of the “surprise” beginning to the concert.
And at around the 715pm mark, a van crammed with what seemed like at least ten or so actors from the Kamchàtka Theatre Company drove right into the front entrance of the Esplanade (the sliding doors that are just in between the Concert Hall and the Theatre) whilst honking incessantly.
This obviously attracted a huge deal of attention, and the crowd watched in amazement as these actors, wearing tweed-looking coats and each carrying an old leather suitcase, began crawling out of the van and started “exploring” the concourse of the Esplanade with a look of great wonder and amazement.
After about fifteen minutes of wandering around the concourse, that’s when they made their way into the Concert Hall, and likewise, the rest of us audience members began to enter the Concert Hall whereby we were greeted with the unbelievable scenes of zaniness and fun as described up above.
Further madcap, slapstick comedy ensued for a good half an hour inside the concert hall before we actually got down to the first programme of the evening – Camille Saint-Saens’ musical suite, “The Carnival of The Animals”.
In keeping with the spirit of the evening, all the musicians in the orchestra wore casual attire, some in t-shirts and berms, whilst the conductor was seemingly “plucked” from the audience when the Spanish actors started “arguing” on stage about having forgotten to employ a conductor for the evening, and then suddenly a young lady from the audience raised her hand, stood up and said “I’ll conduct the orchestra!”
This, we later realised, was obviously planned…but it was a beautiful touch nonetheless.
“The Carnival of The Animals” was accompanied by comedic visuals provided by the actors, with hand-made signs indicating the title of the various movements, to the various comedic actions depicting the current animal being introduced.
The second number of the evening was Sergei Prokofiev’s famed “Peter & The Wolf”, which famously uses distinct instruments to depict the various characters in the story.
The music was played to a 3D animated movie clip which told the story of Peter and his episode with the evil wolf.
All in all, it was a most entertaining and eye-opening evening of madcap comedic art fused with classical music.
Kudos to the Kamchàtka Theatre Company for stretching our minds to the brink and showing to us that an evening of artistic performance does not necessarily have to always begin only when everyone is comfortably in their seats and when the lights go dim.
It can start even before you enter the concert hall, and it can end long after the proverbial curtain falls.
Those Who Can’t, Teach…Full Marks!
This modern take on the classic by The Necessary Stage scores clear distinctions on all accounts
Event: Those Who Can’t, Teach (as part of the Singapore Arts Festival 2010)
Venue: Drama Centre Theatre
Run: 19th May – 21st May 2010
Before I begin the review proper, let me first start with my usual irrelevant rants.
What is it with people and their (i)phones???
I know we live in an age whereby we can’t be separated from our phones, but c’mon…you can’t even leave your phone alone for a 100-minute play?
Seriously?
Is the message that important that you need to respond to it throughout the play?
Y’know, it really isn’t a big deal…but having that glare of an active (i)phone screen at the corner of my eye every time the theatre goes dark really irks me.
And this happens all the time.
At every show.
At any given moment, there will be someone somewhere in the theatre working on that all-important message.
(You know because the glare is just so obvious in a sea of darkness.)
Seriously, people?
Can’t we just shut it off for less than two hours?
I think that billion-dollar deal that you’re busy working on could afford to wait just that teeny bit longer.
Ok, sorry for the grumpiness.
On to the review proper…
…
Proper Review Starts Here
What a great way to start my Singapore Arts Festival this year.
Rare is the play that I’ve seen that scores brilliantly on all accounts and leaves me thoroughly mesmerised, and “Those Who Can’t, Teach” written by Haresh Sharma and directed by Alvin Tan has done just that.
Some plays score high on sheen and humour, but low on substance.
“Those Who Can’t, Teach” has both.
I dare say this is definitely my favourite play of the year thus far.
I highly recommend that you go catch it, because it’s such an enjoyable and wonderfully-constructed play.
And I guarantee that if you’re a teacher, you’d love it a hundred times more!
(I’m not a teacher, but I can see how teachers would totally lap it up.)
So, forget about reading any further…if you’ve not bought your tickets, just go buy them NOW.
(However, this play runs only till Friday, so even if you want to buy tickets after reading this, I’m not sure if you will be able to get your hands on them. But at least I did my best to tell you.)
The play is a modern take on school life, both from the perspective of teachers and students.
It was first staged in 1990, but it is apparent that many updates have been made to the play to make it more relevant in the age of Facebook and laptops and handphones and SMS.
It touches on issues which are pertinent to anyone in the education sector, from high-flying scholars to the amount of admin work that has to be done to the school politics to the challenges in dealing with schoolkids these days to the issues that a young student in a neighbourhood school has to deal with growing up.
The lines were just hilarious, and it’s amazing how they could pack so many incredible lines in one single play.
(I use the word “they” because a good proportion of the script was devised by the actors as well, because we were told in the post-show dialogue session that this was largely a collaborative effort by the actors, writer and director.)
Many of the lines rang so true, and that’s what made them so hilarious.
A lot of research was done by Haresh and the team, and it really shows in the realism of the script.
I reckon there were a good number of education professionals in the audience, because they seemed to lap up a lot of the teacher-centric jokes.
(In fact, I think the bunch next to me were teachers…cos some of them were literally shrieking at some of the jokes.)
One of my favourite lines in the play was when Neo Swee Lin said: “You’re getting married this June? Mine was in December. We teachers can only get married either in June or December.”
That really brought the house down, mainly because it’s so true!
Anyone who knows teachers would attest to how true that is. =)
I guess a big reason why “Those Who Can’t, Teach” was so beloved by the audience is because it showed so much of what life is really like working in Singapore’s education system, and this totally resonated with the audience.
Even if you’re not an education professional, you would still know what it’s like because you’d probably have friends who are education professionals.
I don’t think you’d find another local play that delves so deeply into the topic of Singapore’s education system as this play does.
It depicted the harsh realities of working in an MOE school and the pressures of having to attain lofty standards set by higher-ups.
It also asked the question of whether a teacher’s job is just to teach, or if a teacher is also morally-obligated to be a role model as well.
Where does one draw the line?
Neo Swee Lin portrayed a longsuffering teacher from a neighbourhood school who had spent her entire life teaching and trying to mould students into becoming better people…but at the end of the day, it seems like she spent so much time helping others, but she never had time to help herself.
Ian Tan plays a wide-eyed PE teacher who is fresh from NIE, and starts to realise that NIE never taught him anything about how to survive in the real world, and neither did it teach anything about how to single-handedly organise a Sports Day.
Soon, he realises that all the essential lessons of being a real MOE teacher were never taught in NIE.
Special mention must go to Siti Khalijah and Najib Soiman for their excellent comic delivery, without which the play might not have been as hilarious and enjoyable as it was.
They were simply a sight to behold, with all the various roles they took on.
If there was just one thing I had to nitpick about the play, it was that in the second act, the play tended to jump back and forth in the timeline, and at times it made me a little bit confused, and I had to think a bit to try to piece together the whole actual timeline.
But nonetheless, congrats to The Necessary Stage and the production team behind “Those Who Can’t, Teach”.
I thought it was fantastic, and I wished that it would have run longer so that more Singaporeans can catch this beautiful piece of local theatre.
p.s. Just a small point – I thought the post-show dialogue could have been handled a bit better though. I think Haresh and Alvin did a good job being as forthcoming and accommodating as they could, but I think the rest of the team (including the moderator) could have perhaps done a slightly better job handling some of the audience members’ questions.
Chicago
Event: Chicago
Venue: Esplanade Theatre
Run: 16th April – 9th May 2010
I always make it a point to collect programme booklets of every theatre production that I attend, and I have probably amassed quite a tidy pile by now…but I absolutely have to draw the line when it comes to $20 programmes.
I remember the only other time I came across $20 programmes was for “Mamma Mia!” back in 2004. (Didn’t buy it either.)
Same goes for this current “Chicago” production.
Firstly, sad to say but I’m a printer by trade so I absolutely know the true cost of having a programme booklet printed, and even the most beautiful and extravagant booklet I’ve seen yet (for “Victor/Victoria”) cost only $10 if I didn’t remember wrongly, so I don’t see why “Chicago” should be charging $20 for theirs.
It’s plain extortion.
Besides, I don’t see why “Chicago” programme booklets should be charged at $20 when you consider that a ticket that costs a whopping $133 only gets me as near as Circle 2.
(Ok, I hope I don’t sound too critical here. I’m just voicing out my honest opinions.)
Seriously folks, I shelled out $133 just to sit at the 3rd level of the Esplanade Theatre, and the last thing I wanna see is programme booklets that cost $20 a pop.
So anyway, enough griping.
On to the review proper.
…
I’ve heard lots about the brilliant musical “Chicago” (with songs by the famed Kander & Ebb songwriting team), but I’ve never ever watched the production nor seen the movie before.
Hence, I went to watch it with an open mind and with no preconceived notions whatsoever.
By the time the third scene kicked in, it became apparent that this was going to be a static-set musical whereby there would be no major set changes throughout the entire musical.
I mean, the sets and props were minimal…and it was basically the main central set which housed all the musicians which was the centrepiece of the entire musical.
Which I thought was quite a bold (but neat) concept, and I can’t think of any other major musical production that I’ve watched that could get away with that, apart from “Chicago”.
I liked “Chicago” for its originality and freshness in style, and this is clearly not your typical Rodgers & Hammerstein or Lerner & Loewe fare.
I thought the pace of the story was measured very well, and the overall production had a very slick feel to it.
I liked how they made the musical ensemble resemble the typical “big bands” that were prevalent in the States in the 1920s, both in look and sound.
And I also thought the concept of having two pianists, facing each other, was very cool as well!
The dancing on display was supreme, and this is probably one of the most dance-heavy musicals I’ve seen yet.
Dance definitely plays a huge part in “Chicago”.
I’ve had a number of friends watch the musical and tell me that they totally enjoyed it.
Also, judging by the response from the audience, it felt as though they thoroughly enjoyed the performance as well.
However, personally I would have to say that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy myself.
I would put my satisfaction rating down as only about 70%, but that’s just me being me.
Perhaps I’m too old-fashioned in my thinking, and I am looking more for the traditional scenes-change-as-you-move-the-story-along type of musical.
Also, I felt that the story and the music just weren’t engaging enough for me.
While there was absolutely nothing wrong with the excellent music, I just felt that it was mostly in the same style, and I would have liked a greater variety of moods and tempi.
Most of the songs were your typical up-tempo, raunchy jazz/swing numbers, but I would also have liked to hear some slower, more romantic and more lyrical numbers as well.
Which brings me to my next point, and that regards the story:
This is not your typical love story.
In fact, there is almost no element of romantic love in “Chicago” at all, which somehow didn’t draw me into its story as much as other musicals would.
The way the story was written, I didn’t find myself being sympathetic towards Roxie nor Velma, and thus I wasn’t rooting for either of them.
There didn’t seem to me like there were any redeeming qualities in either of them that warranted me having to be on their side.
Also, I would have perhaps felt more invested in a story which had a greater element of romantic love in it, which would have naturally led to a larger number of lyrical, romantic ballads, which are right up my alley.
But as I said, it’s just me.
Maybe I’m too particular in my preferences…I think I’m the type that can only thoroughly enjoy old-school style musicals.
Anyhow, I’m really glad to have finally caught “Chicago” after hearing about it for so long.
I think it’s a wonderful musical, and thoroughly worth catching.
Truly one of the great musicals of our time.
“Animal Farm” by Wild Rice
Event: Animal Farm
Venue: Drama Centre Theatre
Run: 21st Apr – 8th May 2010
There was so much publicity for this production I figured I had to at least pen down some of my thoughts on this.
Now sadly I’ve never read the book before, and neither was I too familiar with the entire story of “Animal Farm”, so I just went with an open mind.
There was no reference point for me to do any comparison or referencing with, which might or might not have been a good thing.
This production is directed by Ivan Heng and is staged as a commemoration of W!ld Rice’s 10th anniversary.
Apparently this is the third time this particular production is being staged in Singapore, and the only two actors who have starred in all three productions are Lim Yu-Beng and Pam Oei.
This particular production’s cast includes Lim Yu-Beng as Napoleon, Pam Oei as Squealer, Gene Sha Rudyn as Snowball & Benjamin, Yeo Yann Yann as Clover and Denise Tan as Mollie & Moses, amongst others.
I felt that stylistically, the play pretty much echoed what was portrayed in the promotional posters and flyers, i.e. the raw, carnal, sinister feel.
Certain scenes or moments in the play may have come across as being rather abstract, but I guess that was consistent with the overall thrust of the production.
Not much in terms of props and sets, but the main draw was the way in which the actors expertly used every inch of their bodies to depict the idiosyncracies and nuances of the various animals such as the pigs, horses, birds, donkeys, etc.
One thing of note is that this is probably one of the most physically demanding plays I have ever seen (what with all the animal imitations), and hats off to every single actor for pulling off such fine performances night in and night out.
At some points it almost resembled a dance performance, as there was so much rigorous movement involved.
You could see that the actors were visibly exhausted after the performance.
Another thing which I really enjoyed about this production, which I have not come across in any other productions I’ve attended, was the discussion session immediately after the performance.
The entire cast plus the musical director plus Alfian Sa’at (as moderator) came back on stage, seated in a panel, to answer any questions the audience may have had on the production.
I thought it was a wonderful thing to do, cos it gave the audience a chance to interact with the cast, and for the cast to relate their experiences and challenges faced whilst working on the play to the audience.
It gave us valuable insight into the staging of the play, and helped us understand and appreciate the play that much better.
I thought it was very generous of the cast to take time off to share with the audience.
Well done W!ld Rice!
A Singaporean in Paris
A musical revue of sorts, A Singaporean in Paris tells of a Singaporean who ventures to Paris to fulfill his dream to perform in a cabaret. So as he narrates about life there, songs, both English & French are sung. (Hmm…sounds a bit Broadway Beng?) The only French song (which I knew was a French song) was the “lazy smoking song”, i.e. Sympathique by Pink Martini.
I guess the story was nicely stringed together (not that I understood most of the French songs). With spots of humour here and there (mainly from Hossan), it was a like a narrative sort of performance. I usually like Hossan Leong’s shows, although the Hossan Leong Show was slightly disappointing. Most of the cast were not too bad, except for George Chan who needs more “power” in his singing, as agreed with my friend. I felt the same when he did If There’re Seasons last time.
Anyway, what came across my mind was that there really is a song for anything. Imagine songs about smoking and doing nothing, the beach, etc. Of course, the concepts/style of the songs seem very French. But I must admit, it felt a bit out of Singapore at points, even though the cast were mainly Singaporeans. I was actually pretty amused by something written in the programme about a Singaporean’s experience in Paris –
“Ladies, if you smile on the street, be ready to be spotted by a romantic French gentleman and invited to share dinner right away…”
Gee, that never happened to me & my friend while we were in Paris leh…or maybe we didn’t really smile? 😉
A Singaporean In Paris
Event: A Singaporean in Paris
Venue: DBS Arts Centre
Run: 14th Apr – 24th Apr 2010
Before the concept of book musicals came about, song and dance at the theatre came mainly in the form of musical revues.
Sing’theatre’s latest offering is exactly that – a musical revue that tells the story of a Singaporean KQ (played by Hossan Leong) and his experiences whilst working and living in Paris.
To cut the long story short, I didn’t exactly find myself having a thoroughly enjoyable experience, partly because I felt the plot was way too thin.
However, this is no fault of the production’s, simply because they never claimed to be a book musical in the first place.
The very nature of musical revues is that they give you song and dance with a faint semblance of a plot.
And what you had in “A Singaporean in Paris” was plenty of song and dance, threaded briefly together by a few lines of dialogue in between…for the sole purpose of leading into the next song.
There were many French songs performed during the course of the revue (at least twenty one of them), and I gather that they are well-known French hits.
I was only familiar with two of them though – “She” (made famous by Elvis Costello) and “My Way” (made famous by Frank Sinatra).
Both are French tunes, by the way.
Performance-wise, there’s nothing much else you can say really, with a stellar cast featuring Hossan Leong, Emma Yong, George Chan, Leigh McDonald, and Robin Goh.
The four- piece band, headed by musical director Elaine Chan, was faultless as well.
Special mention must go to the choreography by George Chan, which I thought was utterly delightful.
All in all, I dare say you might enjoy the production more if you were French, or if you were very familiar with French culture, because there were a number of jokes which tried to poke fun at Parisian life, and also, the sheer number of hit French songs would have definitely pleased anyone who was familiar with them.
“Liao Zhai Rocks!”《聊斋》
Event: Liao Zhai Rocks!
Venue: Drama Centre Theatre
Run: 25th Mar – 11th Apr 2010
Perhaps it is because Mandarin musicals in Singapore tend to be few and far between, that’s why fans of local Mandarin musicals tend to be much more supportive of such productions.
And they would be rightfully indebted to The Theatre Practice for producing musicals such as “Lao Jiu: The Musical”, “If There’re Seasons…” as well as their latest and most ambitious effort to date – “Liao Zhai Rocks!”.
The first thing that struck me as I entered the Drama Centre Theatre at close to 8pm was that it was barely one-third full.
(Bear in mind this was just a few minutes before the show started.)
I reckon the actual attendance of the production that night didn’t exceed 60% capacity.
Which is quite a discouraging sign, if you ask me.
And from my observations, most of the audience were Chinese-speaking…no doubt fans of local Mandarin theatre and musicals.
Anyway, if there are only a few things you need to know about “Liao Zhai Rocks!” (strange title, don’t you think?), it is these:
i) It is an original Mandarin musical produced by The Threatre Practice.
ii) The music style is rock music.
iii) It is based on the colourful folk stories of the Qing dynasty classic “The Strange Tales of Liao Zhai”.
Opening Number
The musical is drawn from Chinese folklore, and touches a lot on the underworld.
Hence, the opening number was a highly creepy, sinister, menacing portrayal of Hell…in the manner which we would all assume Hell would really be like.
This was supposed to set the tone for the entire musical.
The opening number has to always do that.
Much has been made of the famous story regarding Stephen Sondheim’s attempts to get the opening number right for “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum”.
He had initially written an opening number called “Love Is In The Air”, but it just didn’t work, because it didn’t set the right tone for the musical.
And after Jerome Robbins suggested the opening number be changed to something more comical to reflect the nature of the entire musical, Sondheim came up with “Comedy Tonight” and the musical was a success after that.
I felt that perhaps “Liao Zhai’s” opening number made it seem way too serious, and hence the attempts at humour in the first few subsequent scenes just didn’t fly, because the audience was expecting something very serious.
Also, as some of you may know I am usually quite particular about the “tone” of a production.
A production whose “tone” wavers throughout the show would cause the audience to be confused, and they would not know if they should be looking to laugh, cry, or be serious.
Which is the same problem “Liao Zhai” faced.
Not to mention the fact that the attempts at humour throughout the production tended to be a little on the cheesy side.
Applause?
I don’t know if this is the practice at Mandarin musicals, but throughout the entire musical, the was absolutely no applause at the end of numbers.
In fact, the music was arranged in a way that there was no space given to the audience to applaud anyway, meaning that immediately after the end of each song, the actors resumed their dialogue.
This is unlike English musicals whereby there will be subtle “cues” for the audience to applaud after each number.
Now I think applause is very important because it gives the audience an opportunity to show their appreciation for the actors’ efforts, and this in a way creates rapport between audience and performer as well.
And because of the lack of applause in “Liao Zhai”, that crucial rapport was lost.
Music & Lyrics
I think the inherent problem with rock musicals is that the instrumentation usually ends up overpowering the vocals, and the lyrics are hardly discernible.
That is the nature of rock music – the clarity of lyrical delivery is not the most important thing.
Whereas the main criteria for musical theatre lyrics is that they need to be highly discernible, because the lyrics are always telling a story.
If you can’t catch the lyrics, you can’t catch the story.
And therein lies the problem.
Most of the lyrics were indiscernible thanks to the thumping drums and heavy-distortion guitars, and I had to rely on the translation on the side screens to catch what was being sung.
But don’t get me wrong though, I think “Liao Zhai” has got one of the strongest music and lyrics I’ve heard yet from a local musical.
The songwriting duo of Eric Ng and Xiaohan is just incredible.
Eric Ng is adept at crafting strong, powerful melodies in the Chinese pop mould, and many of the tunes stayed with the audience even after the musical ended.
I felt that there were at least three or four songs in the musical that could easily become chart-toppers.
There was a particular melodic refrain that was milked to death in the show, but it was a good melody, so nobody’s complaining! =)
Chinese Lyrics?
Ok, I have one issue with Chinese lyrics in a musical.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not being discriminatory or what.
I thought Xiaohan’s lyrics were brilliant and beautiful.
It’s just the problem with the language itself.
One huge aspect of the enjoyment of musical theatre is the appreciation of the wittiness of the lyrics, especially through the rhyme.
If you were to study Alan Jay Lerner’s lyrics, you would understand how rich and ingenious and delightful Broadway lyrics can be.
But with Chinese lyrics…yes, they can be beautiful and poetic and all that, but the delight in discovering the witty rhymes is not there.
You won’t believe how much pleasure is derived from the lyrics of a brilliant lyricist such as Lerner or Sondheim.
But with Chinese lyrics, this whole element is gone.
Ok, I’ve said my peace.
Story
If there was one major weak point in the musical, I thought it was the story.
I felt the first act was particularly weak, as it took too long to tell too little.
Who was the main protagonist? Who were we supposed to root for? Was there a particular ambition in any of the main characters?
All this was not clear.
And I felt they did not do a good enough job of illustrating how and why Ying Ning fell in love with Sang Xiao.
Yes, we know that Sang Xiao fell madly in love with Ying Ning, but the reverse was not properly fleshed out…which resulted in it being quite “empty” when Ying Ning started to profess her undying love for Sang Xiao later in the musical.
I mean, as I said, the songs were excellent, and many a times I felt that every time an actor launched into a song, the beauty of the song seemed to make everyone forget about all other inadequacies of the show.
Which goes to show you what great songs can do for a musical.
Production and Conclusion
Lastly, something needs to be said about the production.
I don’t know how to describe it, but it felt as if the production didn’t really manage to how shall I say…”fill the stage”?
The sets and props just didn’t give me the “wow” factor.
They say musicals are supposed to be larger than life, but it didn’t feel that way for “Liao Zhai”.
I felt that “Liao Zhai” was too small for the stage, but that’s just me.
I just had this feeling that it could have been portrayed better, although I can’t quite articulate it.
More scene changes perhaps?
More creative and adventurous settings perhaps?
I dunno.
In conclusion, I will say that I attended “Liao Zhai” partly due to curiosity, and partly due to my continued efforts to watch as many local musical theatre productions as I can.
I wasn’t highly thrilled by the production (the portrayals of the underworld gave me occasional flashbacks to “Sleepless Town”, and I don’t mean this in a good way), but I would have to say that “Liao Zhai” has got some of the strongest songs I’ve ever heard in a local musical production.
And sometimes that in itself is enough to make you forgive all other transgressions.
But not enough for me.
Makan Drama Festival
Browsing the SISTIC events calendar brought to my attention this theatrical festival by Action! Theatre, which had an interesting concept/theme. So yesterday, I went with my friend to check out the double bill (“main course”), along with some free performances (“appetizers” & “desserts”).
The double bill included Perfecting Prata by Desmond Sim, and Cravings by Chong Tze Chien. The former was a short 20-min play, but a tad more serious and portrays the relationship between a father and his son. Cravings was pretty hilarious about how couple tries to plan for a passionate evening after the wife has given birth to their 1st child. I thoroughly enjoyed this as the script was well written and the players acted it out well, which had familiar faces like Jo Tan & Edward Choy, whom I’ve seen before in Awake with Nenek as well as Fanny Kee & Tony Quek. However, I think the “cravings” aspect didn’t come out as strong as the writer might have intended, although they tried to emphasize it nearer the end by mentioning the word a few times. I guess it was analogous, like how couplehood & marriage are like food cravings.
(sidetrack: I seriously think that Jo Tan looks like my friend Alicia, and I think I was schoolmates with Edward Choy in JC)
After the double bill, my friend and I proceeded to catch some free performances – Eat Here or Ta Pao? and excerpts from Hokkien Mee – The Musical based on Ovidia Yu’s play. I felt the Hokkien Mee musical wasn’t too bad (has some potential), although I think it’s more of the intro to the full story, which I believe would be the play out of the Cantonese girl who strives to earn the recipe from her mother-in-law. I don’t know how the full-length show will turn out though. I’ve not read the original play before.
And hearing it’s from Ovidia Yu, it made me recall her workshop during the Singapore Writers Fest last year of her perception of Singapore theatre. She referred Singapore theatre to a buffet spread and it made me wonder if she had any influence on the concept of the makan drama festival. Unfortunately, I’ve lost my notes from that workshop (think I accidentally threw it away during my CNY 大扫除…Arghh!).
Buttons In The Bread 