1st performance - The Spirits Play (KPK) (Absurdism)
- 5 spirits recalling their lives in the war. KPK wrote in the Japanese perspective instead of the victims' perspectives because he felt that the Japanese also are victims of the war.
- As much as they say is an absurd play, I feel strongly the elements of theatre of cruelty (artaud) because of the violence, pain and turmoil used and also symbolism because of the colours and props used. Absurdism is more of meaningless talk, therefore a communication breakdown. But the message in the play was well communicated to the audience because the sentences flow well and there was not much break down. The audience know what KPK is trying to portray here. I also felt it should be nationalism because it talks a lot about the war and politics.
- 5 spirits recalling their lives in the war. KPK wrote in the Japanese perspective instead of the victims' perspectives because he felt that the Japanese also are victims of the war.
- As much as they say is an absurd play, I feel strongly the elements of theatre of cruelty (artaud) because of the violence, pain and turmoil used and also symbolism because of the colours and props used. Absurdism is more of meaningless talk, therefore a communication breakdown. But the message in the play was well communicated to the audience because the sentences flow well and there was not much break down. The audience know what KPK is trying to portray here. I also felt it should be nationalism because it talks a lot about the war and politics.
- Show different perspectives of each character through monologues of the different characters. The audience get an understanding of each characters' emotions, feelings and persepectives. Without monologues, we can only understand the characters on the surface. Monologues gives a direct and frontal exposure of the different characters.
- Monologue - togetherness - monologue. We could see the links between monologues and the story itself.
- Symbolic because of the Japan flag and Noh music. Cranes - 1000 cranes to make a wish come true. Colours that are cyclical. I like the colours that they use because colours add meaning and flavour.
2nd performace - Sure thing (Modernist/Minimalist)
- I like the staging and the way they bring out the essence of the play. They used two couples instead of one couple only plus a playwright who is actually writing a script/play. It gave the understanding that the playwright is attempting to write her play. The sound of the bell becomes more meaningful.
- More prominence of playwright on stage. It shows how the writer progress through her writing her play. It shows the different possibilities that she is thinking and how she progresses from one possibility to another. How one idea forms another idea. It was interesting to see how David Ives portray a playwright doing his/her play, encountering the troubles of doing a play and the different possibilities while writing.
- 2 couples so that the play is more fluent. However, the audience attention has to be spilt into two. Requires alot of focus between the two.
- I like how they introduce the idea of a Singaporean context in their play because it relates very well to the audience and they get the Singaporean jokes.
3rd Performance - Crimes of the Heart (Feminism)
- Feminist play, Naturalistic play. The play sees three womens' struggles in society. They play describes how society portray them and their realities beneath the surface. Altered beauty of women. How women are stereotyped. It has darker meaning to it because the monologues revealed their inner struggles and realities in their lives. These issues are very real.
- It makes my heart wrench and I feel my stomach twist because these women suffered bitterness in their lives that are ignored by the men in life. I feel sorry for these women and also for myself. But that's what feminist plays are, to tell the world that women have their own struggles as well and we should not be stereotype by men. They don't know about us and what we are going through.
- More prominence of playwright on stage. It shows how the writer progress through her writing her play. It shows the different possibilities that she is thinking and how she progresses from one possibility to another. How one idea forms another idea. It was interesting to see how David Ives portray a playwright doing his/her play, encountering the troubles of doing a play and the different possibilities while writing.
- 2 couples so that the play is more fluent. However, the audience attention has to be spilt into two. Requires alot of focus between the two.
- I like how they introduce the idea of a Singaporean context in their play because it relates very well to the audience and they get the Singaporean jokes.
3rd Performance - Crimes of the Heart (Feminism)
- Feminist play, Naturalistic play. The play sees three womens' struggles in society. They play describes how society portray them and their realities beneath the surface. Altered beauty of women. How women are stereotyped. It has darker meaning to it because the monologues revealed their inner struggles and realities in their lives. These issues are very real.
- It makes my heart wrench and I feel my stomach twist because these women suffered bitterness in their lives that are ignored by the men in life. I feel sorry for these women and also for myself. But that's what feminist plays are, to tell the world that women have their own struggles as well and we should not be stereotype by men. They don't know about us and what we are going through.
What is our view on dreams?
Theatre then becomes a dream or a realm where imagination, spontaneity and improvisation flow freely. I remember one of the lessons we did with Charlene based on Haresh Sharma play, Off center, where there was a scene of dreams. We then improvise our stories in class base on a dream. There were no limitations because it is a dream or a fantasy. It is not real and because it is not real that we can come up with anything.
The unexpected or unforeseen happpen. We are in a dream while doing theatre, where revelations come and surprise us. It is a place where the logical and rationale brain cannot fathom. Dream act as a bridge to another realm of the world where we can explore and sometimes find truth, at times ridiculous things and keeps us pondering. We sometimes find it end abruptly and have the feeling of wanting to know more than that. We may even imagine what happens after that and this is what 20th century playwrights wanted to portray.
Conclusion of AAU 201
Study of isms:
The different isms are thought-provoking and emotional. It is an era of experimenting and liberation from regiments and traditions. An era of trying out new things that induce social reforms and transformation. As far as the Avant Garde is concerned, where are we now in Singapore? I think we are still at the beginning of looking into Avant Garde because censorship is slowly deteriorating in Singapore and more people are experimenting the Avant Garde movement. Theatre moved on to touch the sensory and critical thinking aspects rather than totally base on visual and aural aspects. They challenge, feel, bring desires, present hard truths and provoke thoughts. Many of the isms overlap each other or they may influence one another. For example, the movement of surrealism erupted from dadaism in the world war.
I personally like symbolism because it has a deeper meaning than just looking on the surface. It can be interpreted in many different meanings. It allows critical thinking, where the mind is used to analyse and do investigation, just like a crime investigator or a coroner.
Overall, throughout the module, I learnt alot of techniques, ideas, perceptions and styles of the different isms. I like the way where we are allowed to explore and study on the different isms and give a presentation about the isms. One thing that really hinders our learning might be the amount of time each of us has for our presentations. Because we wanted to learn so much more and we could not cover our ism within the 10 min. However, the module has given me alot of knowledge on the isms in the 20th century theatre and in the Singapore scene. I enjoyed it very very much.
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