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| S W A G |
Despite our perfectly mirrored reactions (as if planned, but no), we broke into groups and scrambled to come up with a story that would both be captivating and incorporate the stunningly different approaches to theater we had learnt about in the weeks before.
Clearly I remember that first day. I hadn't been feeling well and when I stepped post-bomb-drop into the Blackbox my groupmates had already decided on a setting. It would, simply, be set at a bus stop.
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| Our favorite 'makcik' |
It was quiet brilliance. I loved it. Sure, you may think: how boring; what's so special about a bus stop? To be honest, it was what I would've thought, too, eight weeks ago. The old me would very possibly be drawn to novelty (as wacky and out-of-the-world a setting as you can!), always striving for uniqueness to capture the audience's attention. But after eight weeks I discovered that when done right, the most ordinary of settings could appeal to the audience with familiarity, and express the most profound of ideas.
Take a look at the bus stop we've created. Just a bus stop, no fancy decorations, no funky sci-fi time warp. Five ordinary characters, five lives crossing briefly without rhyme or reason. With only ten minutes to explore these relationships, we keep it bare, with minimal dialogue and explanation.
Something we've learnt that I'll always bear in mind - to make that onstage instant the most important, rather than back stories or discussions about the future. Doubtlessly the latter would play a huge role as well, but these would better be explained through push-pull actions rather than line after line of speech. Looking at the concepts crafted by the other groups, it is not difficult to see how we've all picked up the motto that less is more, with our simple premises and action-driven performances.
Yet, all this is easier said that done. We had a tough time toning down the dialogue we felt was necessary to drive the plot along in the first two weeks. We would speak as we saw fit, then stop and lament about how we seemed to be speaking too much. Our little performance simply didn't feel theatrical and dramatic enough! Shuming's awkwardness would get too real, I would forget to take my time with my shopping to-do list of actions like we'd learnt in class. We kept rehearsing, but something just didn't click.
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| Not sure how this came about . . . |
In the last two weeks, we finally saw the light. Tension was more effective than conflict after all, so we focused on creating just that - from space, actions, non-verbal interactions and the lack thereof.
Bam! It was like we had a whole new product in our hands. It was nothing like the end product I'd imagined all those lessons ago. Script? We didn't have to pen a word. Everything came naturally from the interactions of the character sketches we crafted. Intriguing storyline? Nope, only a caricature of an everyday event where five people share a rare moment of intimacy at a bus stop.
But see through the eyes of our CDP101 class and you'll discover so much more. The allegorical bus stop setting is an allusion to the journeys we all set out on, and the five (un)fortunate characters symbolize the different stages in our lives and how our decisions eventually shape us. All of this, without any overt explanation. We hope to convey our message quietly, wordlessly.
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| My Little Ms Radiant! |
Andrew helped debunk my assumptions that acting is all
about being laden with clashing emotions, or that a good play is made from
clever dialogue and good enactment of scenes of interaction.
A stellar play goes so much further beyond that. It is
a culmination of emotions rooted in reality, the push-and-pull factor, lots of
pent-up tension, and genuine reactions that bounce from character to character.
Monologues are no less affecting than a quarrelsome scene; good dynamics are no
less important than a well-written script.
We are attempting to arrive at this level of theatre
with our little play. We chose to not write out a script at all, instead
reacting in that moment and capturing the essence of the interactions between
characters. We have kept dialogue to a bare minimum and reduced it to a
supporting role, as a purposeful catalyst to the story – to gently nudge it
along rather than being a driving force. And we are prepared to react
accordingly to ever-changing circumstances that could befall the scenario
during our performance.
My biggest takeaway from this wonderful module, however, must be the notion that nothing is ever too trivial to be dramatized. I could not be thankful enough for the quirky, lovable classmates who accompanied me on this personal discovery journey through theater class. And of course, our tutor Andrew, who brought us to a different bend in the road, opened my eyes and showed me a brand new perspective.
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| The best class ever! |
