Saturday, October 10, 2009
I Will Go Home Review
(I understand that I am making a very dangerous attempt by reviewing this... But what the heck. I doubt anyone will understand what I'm rambling about anyway.)
I Will Go Home
by Fundamental Multi-Disciplinary
Drama Centre Black Box
3 October 2009, 8pm
This piece made me feel... young. Oh so youthful, ignorant and clueless. Don't mistake me; I Will Go Home was not senseless jargon. Inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince, the piece was a tough one to swallow.
According to the programme, Director Nick Ng views his style of theatre to be "post-modern" and "fragmented". Indeed, the show was full of disjointed stories and vignettes which kept the audience bewildered.
It all starts very cleverly, with reasonable exercise of lighting effects (given the venue's limitations) and purposeful movement. Throughout the play, there is also thoughtful use of props and music. But oh, when the actors begin to speak, I jump out of my seat a little.
No, they did not begin to spew Hokkien vulgarities (those there is some Teochew spoken). It is their enunciation. At some points I could not understand what they were saying, no matter how well their voices were projected (I was seated at the front row). At this point, I was hoping that the actors' original accents were intentional but as I looked through their bios, the prospect seemed unlikely, given their lack of experience. Only Serena Pang had perfect control over her speech, though I thought she may have been too exaggerated for such an intimate space throughout the entire play.
Nevertheless, the ensemble made up for their speech in their own ways. Tan Mei and Law Kian Yan had soulful soliloquys, Tammy Soh transitioned smoothly between two alternating characters and Mike HJ Chang made very sensitive observations about his childhood. I appreciate the fact that the play has multiple contributors although some its significance may be lost in, well, translation.
As for the central theme, I thought Ng and Lim Koon Hiong (music & sound director) had made a rather keen analysis of The Little Prince's role as a migrant. The play is consistent in its observation of flux in the human society.
However, I was not completely satisfied by the choice of stories used, particularly that of the crew member who journeyed with Cheng Ho. While I understand from the post-show dialogue that the intention was to keep the examples to the Asian context in different eras, the lack of explicit identity in the character instinctively made me feel that it was fictional and unbelievable. In fact, I was not really paying attention to that story and that of the Malayan communist's. Where was my theatre etiquette? Lying somewhere, under the bed. Pardon me, but it really did get dull.
Alright, now on to the technical bits. Chang's frame-by-frame videos of charcoal drawings were indeed impressive; his artistic style complements Ng's. I also thought the use of the 'live' video camera (with its fuzzy image) at the beginning was extremely relevant in creating the atmosphere for the piece. Music was rather decent, though at some points it was really too loud (I could practically hear my eardrums sizzling).
What really bothered me, though, was the costumes. All 5 actors wore a long beige hoodie like a dress (whether there were pants underneath is no business of mine) and long, knee-high socks. I could hardly see the significance of the costume other than the fact that the hoodie resembled pyjamas or kidswear (are they taking The Little Prince too literal in context?). The functionality of the costume should also have been considered as it left the actresses at a disadvantage, with their large, leg-sprawling movements. Nevertheless, it is not a big matter.
If, as an audience member, you take I Will Go Home seriously enough, it plants an answerless question which only grows and branches out into more doubts without ever meeting at a conclusion. Yes, perhaps I am thinking too much into it. Yet I have arrived at nowhere. (Or have I?) Perhaps, sometimes, a journey doesn't mean having to take a single step at all.
To conclude, this was a total mindf*ck.
Note: Director Nick Ng and actor Mike HJ Chang are staff at the reviewer's current school.
(Sorry, this review may be rather unfair. I am terribly sleepy.)
I Will Go Home
by Fundamental Multi-Disciplinary
Drama Centre Black Box
3 October 2009, 8pm
This piece made me feel... young. Oh so youthful, ignorant and clueless. Don't mistake me; I Will Go Home was not senseless jargon. Inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince, the piece was a tough one to swallow.
According to the programme, Director Nick Ng views his style of theatre to be "post-modern" and "fragmented". Indeed, the show was full of disjointed stories and vignettes which kept the audience bewildered.
It all starts very cleverly, with reasonable exercise of lighting effects (given the venue's limitations) and purposeful movement. Throughout the play, there is also thoughtful use of props and music. But oh, when the actors begin to speak, I jump out of my seat a little.
No, they did not begin to spew Hokkien vulgarities (those there is some Teochew spoken). It is their enunciation. At some points I could not understand what they were saying, no matter how well their voices were projected (I was seated at the front row). At this point, I was hoping that the actors' original accents were intentional but as I looked through their bios, the prospect seemed unlikely, given their lack of experience. Only Serena Pang had perfect control over her speech, though I thought she may have been too exaggerated for such an intimate space throughout the entire play.
Nevertheless, the ensemble made up for their speech in their own ways. Tan Mei and Law Kian Yan had soulful soliloquys, Tammy Soh transitioned smoothly between two alternating characters and Mike HJ Chang made very sensitive observations about his childhood. I appreciate the fact that the play has multiple contributors although some its significance may be lost in, well, translation.
As for the central theme, I thought Ng and Lim Koon Hiong (music & sound director) had made a rather keen analysis of The Little Prince's role as a migrant. The play is consistent in its observation of flux in the human society.
However, I was not completely satisfied by the choice of stories used, particularly that of the crew member who journeyed with Cheng Ho. While I understand from the post-show dialogue that the intention was to keep the examples to the Asian context in different eras, the lack of explicit identity in the character instinctively made me feel that it was fictional and unbelievable. In fact, I was not really paying attention to that story and that of the Malayan communist's. Where was my theatre etiquette? Lying somewhere, under the bed. Pardon me, but it really did get dull.
Alright, now on to the technical bits. Chang's frame-by-frame videos of charcoal drawings were indeed impressive; his artistic style complements Ng's. I also thought the use of the 'live' video camera (with its fuzzy image) at the beginning was extremely relevant in creating the atmosphere for the piece. Music was rather decent, though at some points it was really too loud (I could practically hear my eardrums sizzling).
What really bothered me, though, was the costumes. All 5 actors wore a long beige hoodie like a dress (whether there were pants underneath is no business of mine) and long, knee-high socks. I could hardly see the significance of the costume other than the fact that the hoodie resembled pyjamas or kidswear (are they taking The Little Prince too literal in context?). The functionality of the costume should also have been considered as it left the actresses at a disadvantage, with their large, leg-sprawling movements. Nevertheless, it is not a big matter.
If, as an audience member, you take I Will Go Home seriously enough, it plants an answerless question which only grows and branches out into more doubts without ever meeting at a conclusion. Yes, perhaps I am thinking too much into it. Yet I have arrived at nowhere. (Or have I?) Perhaps, sometimes, a journey doesn't mean having to take a single step at all.
To conclude, this was a total mindf*ck.
Note: Director Nick Ng and actor Mike HJ Chang are staff at the reviewer's current school.
(Sorry, this review may be rather unfair. I am terribly sleepy.)
# posted at 2:03 AM
