Sunday, July 22, 2007
i've had a very eventful weekend with my sweetheart, who insisted on paying for a pair of gorgeous copper ballet-flats from prettyFIT. while i'm usually the type to eschew boutique stores, i couldn't help myself but feel like buying it. i think it was the effects of shopping with princess (ok i dragged her out on friday. i needed clothes for uni.) and smife. oh, smife's got the same pair of shoes too X)
***
The Seagull was fantastic! ok yes i know, there are only 2 things singapore will be talking about come the end of this weekend: harry potter and king lear. i don't give a hoot about Broomstick Boy, but i know Lear raves are bound to get michael sad and depressed and feeling stupid that he bought the wrong tickets for the wrong show, so everyone please avoid talking about king lear in front of michael. but i love you very much sweetheart. you make me very very happy :)
and yes, The Seagull was fantastic! even Romala Garai, the youngest and most inexperienced actor, was an absolute pleasure to watch. i must say, she has grown a lot as an actor the last time i watched her as Katie Miller in Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights. not just playing the little blonde girl finding her way in Cuba, but someone who struggles through much worse as Nina. Trevor Nunn stuck fast to subtlety in his directorial concept, so that the simplest stage moments of complete inaction made for powerful tableaux. michael was very accurate in pointing out that it is very difficult to be emotionally attached to any one character, and it's true, because everyone faced a struggle and no one became The Seagull in the end. Chekov made 50% of the magic possible with the intricacies of plot and character development, and the directing and acting added the finishing touches to this beautifully tragic tapestry depicting the erosion of emotion and humanity in a dysfunctional family. and when the lights finally dimmed, i think it took about 5 seconds for the full weight of that balloon-prick ending to really sink in. i take my hat off to William Gaunt, whose co-stars lauded him for leaving very big shoes for Ian McKellen to fill for the night show. in a way, i'm glad that Gaunt took the role instead, which helped because then i could fully appreciate the charming idiosyncracies of his character Sorin, and how he moulded Sorin into the way that he is. i think if it was McKellen, i wouldn't have been able to focus on Sorin as much.
it goes without saying that i think the local theatre arts scene has a lot to learn from RSC. stylistically, in a country where theatre=drama that is ABOUT ANGRYLESBIANSANDGAYS or ANGRYSTRAIGHTS, or TONNESOFNUDITYANDSWEARWORDS because ILOOKEDGYTHATWAY, Seagull scores with its deafening quietness, and the implications in its silences. and the humility of the RSC people is something that is very warming. some local directors bask in the glory of the conventional Christmas pantomine act, and actors and actresses smile and sign autographs. so it is an entirely different and heart-warming thing to see the assistant director step out in simple sleeveless blacks and tell the audience 'hey y'all, please stay if you want to, the actors are coming out to talk to you.' my only regret was that i was too chickened to ask anything, because i was pretty sure if someone handed me the mike, i would've spent 2 minutes gushing to Romola Garai about Havana Nights haha.
yup so there, a happy weekend :) thank you again sweetheart.
~Love
