Update: Read the scriptwriter’s side of the story in the comments. It is a sad tale of how creativity can be stifled by bureaucracy. I wonder if one day, hall could stage an all-male production of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest”, as Wild Rice is doing. It’s a very entertaining play, but will the hall look kindly on cross-dressing men?
Nothing terrifically interesting at home today, except that I ordered an 80-dollar cage for the 3 girl mice. It’s huge, twice the size of the round cage I got Timmy. I bought a new cage primarily because they’ve been known to escape from their play box, and I don’t want them to escape, especially when their only caregiver will be a stressed young man whose hobbies do NOT include mouse-hunting in the wee hours of the morning.
Today I get to dress up and go out to attend Eusoff’s Dance Production! Since my hair loss is verging on disturbing, I wear a hat throughout. I have cancer, what’s your excuse? It’s good to see old friends again, as well as Dr Mark and his wife, who are genuinely concerned about my health. For some reason, I seem to have lost my voice after the show ended. I mean, my voice now isn’t loud, but it’s certainly more than the hoarse whisper that comes forth.
Warning: VERY HARSH review ahead. Eusoffians, stop reading.
Anyway, Dance Production in a nutshell. I’m sorry to say this, perhaps my expectations were too high, but it was a disappointment. Considering that I know practically all the people in charge, perhaps I overestimated their abilities and talents. But I’m pretty sure I’ve seen better.
The script could have done with some ruthless editing. The show dragged on a bit, and I felt that some scenes and even some characters were superfluous, but then I do have a very minimalist bent. I’ve only had the opportunity to work with one scriptwriter, but he’s one of the best young scriptwriters around, and he didn’t treat his script like some sacred cow. I learned from him that when you have to, cut.
I’m not sure if it’s standard practice for scriptwriters to sit in on readings, however – that’s what a director is for. I wasn’t in hall for this production, so I won’t make assumptions about how they went about things, but I am very sure of this: the script could have done with some slashing and burning, if only for reasons of length.
Maybe it’s because I remember so many past productions, among them a farce (Leaving La Vida Loca), and a convoluted but brilliant drama (A Feast of Fate), and I think that we should continue pushing the envelope, rather than falling back into whatever’s funny and comfortable and understandable. You want the audience to leave, with questions in their minds about “What if A hadn’t done X, would B have done Y?” and suchlike. Not questions like “what’s the whole point of that character?”
Again, I would like to point out that never having actually written a script, I am basically spouting conjecture, and what’s more, as an actor and not a dancer, I might have missed the point of Dance Production entirely. Nobody comes to Dance Production expecting great drama. They come because their son, daughter, brother, sister, boyfriend, girlfriend, or Army buddy is acting, dancing or working backstage in it. It’s basically our own recital concert. Here, see how clever and beautiful your son or daughter is!
I think that’s the greatest disappointment of Dance Production. We’re not looking to appeal to the general public, because the support we get from people who are definitely coming (i.e. family members and alumni) is more than enough to fill seats. And because these people aren’t going to criticise you, you don’t improve. Whereas if you had to pull in the general public, you’d probably want to break the mould and do something different, rather than just a family-friendly concert that caters to the lowest common denominator. With A Feast of Fate, I felt that drama-wise, we were really pushing our limits, plus there was that really awesome fan dance. Sadly, very few people understood what was going on in that story, because it was perhaps a bit too complex for the average person.
The acting was mostly okay, but some parts were just… not right. I don’t understand why Andrew’s mad doctor, which is essentially a rehash of his evil wizard last year, didn’t go over as well this time around. This time, it just seemed like overacting to the point of hamming it up. And the character of Alex just fell flat, especially when compared to the other 3 imaginary friends. I just didn’t find her as likable as the rest. Perhaps because the other 3 are more like cartoon characters than real people, it doesn’t matter if they’re one-dimensional, whereas Alex is more like an actual person, but her personality isn’t fleshed out properly so she’s in that no-man’s land of “characters that should be deeper but aren’t”. The other 3 are a Chinese general, a sexy catgirl, and a leprechaun/Willy Wonka cross. They played true to type, whereas Alex, the “Goth-rock chick”, never once fit that stereotype (and by the way, the way she’s dressed: that’s indie, not Goth). The only thing Goth about her is her eyeliner, because she never spouts melancholy lines, or quotes Edgar Allan Poe, or makes allusions to rock bands. They had a chance to let her be stereotypical when they suggested going to the beach, a Goth wouldn’t want to go because they are “creatures of the night” and besides, they’d burn in the sun. But nope, no such joke. So you see? She’s more than a stereotype, but we never do see what about her is “more”.
One major thing missing: motivations. The mad doctor hates imaginary friends and wants them to suffer, but we’re never told why. Presumably, it’s because he is mad and requires no reasons. But it just seems so arbitrary, you know? And we never quite found out why the imaginary friends returned and multiplied. Is it a response to stress? Why so many, all at the same time? And why in those forms? Are they manifestations of his psyche? And if you reply with “stop asking so many questions, it’s just a play” then my answer is, you either take it seriously and build a whole world with proper rules, or none at all, then you have a random play in which anything goes and we can label it “absurdist”.
There’s an idea for next year.
I have no opinion on the dances because most of the time, they bore me. While they’re dancing onstage, I’m actually playing “spot my friends”. However, most people seemed to like the alumni dance best. Experience really does pay off. That, and “only” having day jobs to worry about, whereas the current hall people have midterms, essays, assignments, IHG and other hall CCAs to handle as well. Seriously though, as a working adult I have no homework and no readings, whereas the boyfriend is a very stressed student. I wouldn’t swap with him for anything (except maybe an instant, side-effect-free cure for cancer).
So, one more time: It wasn’t a bad Dance Production. They are to be commended for pulling it off, considering the shitstorm Eusoff has been through in the past couple of months. But let’s not take the easy way out and make excuses. It most definitely could have been better (and I’ve not even enumerated the blunders by the sets team).