look! no talk of NS!

student productions are usually interesting experiences, both for the
students and the people who end up watching the final product. This I
believe is a truth, be it something like 'huang cheng' or indeed the
nus hall play (or perhaps I should say musical) I just watched
tonight.



having been forewarned against having high expectations, I went in with
a critical mindset (and acute lack of sleep; more on that another
time), ready to dissect the performance and pick out the parts I liked
and didn't. It wasn't a difficult task.



the first black mark was made against the acting. The cast in general
put in a very wooden performance. There were a couple of actors who
impressed, but in the main the performers suffered from weak diction
and unsteady accents, as well as a severe lack of emotion in their
delivery. A monotone is used for expressing boredom, not
for delivering proclamations of loyalty and love.



but that was only one aspect of the bigger problem, which was a
badly-written script. Perhaps because there was more than one writer,
the script turned out too uneven, with a few genuinely well-written
bits drowned in a sea of banality. Witty dialogue was mixed with
superfluous scenes (including a scene of an ops order was a really bad idea)
and clumsy attempts to bring points across to the audience (like saying
'I love you' ten gazillion times; trust us, we get the idea already).



at the same time, the script seemed to be trying to deal with too many
abstract issues that couldn't bring out the interest of the performers
(like the loyalty to country thing). And throwing in dances and songs
was perhaps a good idea; unfortunately while the dancers were fine, the
same couldn't be said - with a few notable exceptions - for the singing
ability of the cast. In fact, the less we say of it, the better.



overambition rarely produces pretty results.



the highlight for me had to be at the start of the second act, when the
cast launched into a song that was a warped version of 'do you hear the
people sing' from les mis.
Similar piano chords, similar defiant lyrics and martial drumbeats, but
somehow lacking the grandeur of the original tune. Watching the whole
scene I couldn't help laughing (yes, I was mean) and wondering if I
should stand up at the end and shout 'Vive la France!' (no I didn't do it; I'm not a total prick).



on the plus side, the set was well done, realistic and well designed.
Lighting, sound and music - apart from that unfortunate attempt at
imitating les mis - were generally good. So was coordination: I only noticed one lighting error.



there were a couple of dances, which offered a good interlude, although
I must confess I didn't know exactly what they were supposed to put
across. But nevertheless it was a refreshing break from following the
plot.



to put things in context, I suppose I have to keep in mind that this
was after all an amateur production, with severe limitations on
manpower, time, space and budget. Nevertheless, even after taking all
this into account, this was a pretty disappointing performance, dragged
down by the ponderous and patchy script. Watching it I kept thinking of
mr kai and wondering what his reaction to this would have been. Sad to
say, that might have been the most interesting part of the whole
experience.