Click on the image to go to source and official website of the play.
This play was different from the usual musical or theatre productions that I usually go for and enjoy tremendously. This was a 3 hour long performance with a 15-minute intermission after the first 85 minutes. They finished performing the script (I read the script before going for the performance) before the intermission. And what were they doing for the second half of the time? Honestly, I don't really know. I was drained at the end of it. And partly glad the 3 hours were over. My rear was starting to ache after being seated for so long.
On hindsight, it was a different kind of play from the usual ones I like to watch also because the directors, Makoto Sato and Danny Yung, had incorporated traditional art forms into theatre. They made use of professional Noh theatre and Kunqu opera masters to perform. During the performance, I didn't really think of it as anything. I just accepted that the art form was slow the way it was. But after talking to a few friends who had watched it too, they mentioned something that I have come to agree with. The pacing of the performance and the (horribly) slow walking was perfect for the theme; for the characters. The characters were spirits. They wouldn't die again. They had all the time in the world to do whatever they wanted to and/or needed to. A minute to us is like a second to them. They could afford to move slowly.
Another thing that I've come to agree with is from the programme booklet. I'm usually too hyped up that I'm going to watch a performance before the performance starts so I usually read the programme booklet after the performance. And this is what it says: "The contemporary theatre artists, Noh actors from Tokyo and Kunqu actors from Nanjing are thus presented with an open platform for active dialogues on the arts, culture and history, going beyond the confines of their respective cultures and countries."
I think that is really quite true. By bringing these traditional art forms to Singapore, it is allowing these masters to perform outside their countries, outside the usual traditional contexts and outside their usual restrictions. It also allows the audience to experience these traditional art forms without having to travel to a specific location, thus increasing the awareness and appreciation for these forms.
That said, I find the performance a difficult one to appreciate. I think that if I had some prior experience and knowledge of the art forms presented, I would have enjoyed the piece and appreciated it a lot more.
In terms of understanding the message, I think I could follow the play quite well (for the first part) because some parts of the script were in the visuals and because I have read the script. I think if I hadn't, I would have been completely lost. Now, since we're on the topic of visuals, I really appreciated the typography used. It was a performance in Mandarin, Japanese and English. The texts were in those three languages. The ways in which the texts appeared, stayed and left the screen really enhanced the performance. It made me aware of the sense of time - that the moment is fleeting. That, in contrast with what I mentioned earlier about time to the spirits, created a sense of conflict. Conflict was one of the emotions that I felt was supposed to be portrayed.
The performance was supposed to portray the conflict, anguish, hysteria and turmoil of war. I think that was amazingly done. Especially in the second half where I felt the script was stripped of its words to plain, raw emotions.
All in all, it was a great experience. But for now, once is enough. Perhaps in the future after I have trained my rear to sit for longer hours in the dark, I'll go for another performance like that. That's if, there are any showing. For now, Kuo Pao Kun's plays are on my "to read" list. If you don't get to watch this play, read the script. The script was a really good read. I finished it in an hour.
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