The Lost and the Ecliptic

Just went to Esplanade for a play yesterday night. The play was... incredible.

Incredibly bad.

Couldn't believe that it could be that bad.

Seriously.

A one point, a malayan tapir was dragged across the screen in a projection.

The Indian lady next to me stifled a giggle and attempted to mask it as a polite cough. I swallowed the mirth that was threatening to bubble forth. No one could understand why a tapir was cantering across the screen. It was followed by a penguin and many other moving objects.

One guy, sitting behind, actually snorted.  He tried to strangle that snort. (It sounded as though he was choking.) A loud guffaw was heard when one fruit floated across the screen.

It was Singaporeans' perennial favourite fruit, durian.

The highlight of the show was actually the floating durian. It was so comical that the normally reserved Singaporeans actually laughed out. Probably the only thing that people will remember about the play.

Didn't think that the producers intended it to be humourous though. It was supposed to be philosophical, contemplative... but turned out to be a farce.

Every section was disconnected, chaotic. There were dance, Chinese opera, light projections, animation, film snippets and songs - both Malay and English. Every section seemed to signal the end of the play (the end which I was looking forward to).

If anything positive must be said, the directors of the play could, at the very least, be praised for being experimental. The rojak of techniques is unique although they just don't come together.

The audience was fidgeting in their seats, bored by the play. I found myself thinking about university application matters, equities trading, friendship issues etc. One could easily mistake this as a junior college Maths lecture by a teacher who couldn't teach. It was that mundane.

A loud sigh was heard, reverberating poignantly in the silent theater.

When the play finally ended, everyone clapped loudly.

Ah, finally, it's over.

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The lost and the ecliptic.

The audience felt lost. And the play, it has fallen into an eclipse.