Episode 889: Still Pushing Ahead...

Have managed to write some more dialogue for my play. Am hoping to do a massive push tomorrow in the Library between the DR@W experiment and seeing Blue Valentine with Dan in the evening that will let me get to at least the middle of the play, which shouldn't be too much of a stretch, seeing as how this one-act play isn't meant to be terribly long. I've already managed to work in a couple of in-jokes referencing stuff from Measure For Measure, like Isabella's silence and Angelo's description as 'precise'. I hope whoever's marking this picks up on stuff like that, or I will be quite upset. The trouble I'm having is that my dialogue has a tendency to want to veer into idle banter for laughs. I've already put one such exchange in, which I think works because it hints at prior events that there isn't space to bring up otherwise within my play. I've also been finding good bits in essays here and there, some of which I may quote verbatim via my Critic character in his (probably) single appearance right before the end. The thing is that I'm trying to create a play of ideas that would still be interesting to watch because of the way they're embodied by characters, sort of like how some critics have proposed to interpret the characters in Shakespeare's play. The tricky thing is to avoid turning my characters into flat caricatures or stereotypes.

Episode 888: Breakthrough!

It's oddly appropriate that this auspiciously numbered post concerns the conceptual breakthrough I had this afternoon regarding my Shakespeare creative project. Was talking it over with Bella because we were going to work in the Library on Tuesday, and the more I typed in Facebook Chat, the clearer it became what my play had to be about. It helped that Bella could look at my ideas from the perspective of a Theatre and Performance Studies student. Looking at my original proposal to Carol Rutter for the project, it's kind of funny how what I've got right now in my head for the body of my one-act play is actually closer to what I had in mind when I first chose to do a creative project than what it had drifted into in the intervening months. I'm pulling a lot more ideas together now, I think, but in a more cogent fashion than before. Pretty incredible given that just last evening, I was having doubts about what I was actually going to put into the play. It's a bit too complicated to explain here what the play is going to look like now, and I doubt anyone really cares that much apart from myself. Suffice it to say that I'm pleased and feeling very optimistic about getting the play finished in a timely fashion!

Episode 887: Reece's Half-Birthday

So what else could there have been but a bar crawl in Leamington? We started at Kelsey's and worked our way north though, so that was interesting, since it meant being in Kelsey's before it started smelling too rank. That was a welcome change! Since we were heading northwards, I also ended up having takeaway from a different place because it wouldn't have made much sense to walk down half the Parade back to Vialli's. Truly, a night of novelty. I mean, before I left the house, I even managed to do some work for a change. Wrote the first page of my play, which was mostly a bunch of stage directions, since my play opens and closes with the Duke delivering his final speech from Measure For Measure. I'm glad I've finally written something, but I do think that I still need a clearer idea of what's going to happen in the middle, if the writing's to go as smoothly as I need it to. It's like I have a lot of interconnected ideas floating about, but haven't managed to integrate them properly into a larger theoretical framework that would justify the existence of my creative project.

Episode 886: Army Daze

Just got back from the Singapore Society's production of Michael Chiang's Army Daze. (Can I just say that I'm impressed they got Ivan Heng to advise them?) It was an entertaining performance, although I think to get the full effect of it, you really did have to be a Singaporean male that has gone through NS. The stereotypes were naturally wildly exaggerated, but occasionally, you do encounter people who are actually like them. I know I did. A minor problem I had with tonight's production was the timing. The scene transitions were slightly awkward, but I'm chalking that up to the venue, which I imagine couldn't have been the easiest to work with since I'm sure the Panorama Suite wasn't designed with theatre in mind. What I had in mine was the odd pacing of the line delivery, like there would always be a split second pause too much. That aside, it was impressive how the cast managed to inhabit their roles, especially Nicholas. Mad props to Zhi Zhan too, particularly for that Lady Gaga moment. Anyway, I managed to get some reading done while waiting on campus for the play to start. I now definitely have enough ideas in my head to begin writing, so I'm going to get on that tomorrow before Reece's bar crawl!

Episode 885: Best Before

Went to see Rimini Protokoll's Best Before at the Arts Centre with Bella. For an explanation of what this game/play is like, go here. We thought it would be really pretentious, but it turned out to be quite fun. Some of the actors' anecdotes felt a bit banal, but I guess that may have been the point. Life isn't always one interesting incident after another, but if there's one thing the production did do, it was to drive home the fact that life is a series of choices. It would be overly simplistic to say that Bestland was a perfect analogy for life, but it provided an adequate approximation for reflecting the choices available to us in life and how the consequences can play out. Randomly, I managed to get myself elected President of Bestland. Then I decided to become a dictator by suspending elections. (To be fair, I would have been a benevolent dictator. Give me some credit here, given where I was born and raised.) So I was overthrown in a coup, though my fellow players chose to spare my life. They did, however, exile me out of the game, so 'Fred' was the first player out of Bestland. I'm actually really tempted to check and see if the Arts Centre still has free tickets for the Saturday performance. If they do, I might pop down before Reece's birthday thing and see if I can get elected President again, and this time, manipulate my way into remaining in power. If the actors help by casting me as the 'family values' candidate again, I could probably make it. The key is to be quick enough and jump onto the platform when nominations open, which for me, happened quite by accident. Kudos, by the way, to the couple that survived till 109 at the end of the night, when they managed to hold out against the in-game wind blowing them to their death on one side of the screen!

Episode 884: China Miéville Reading From Embassytown!

John Fletcher's lecture sounded intellectual. I wasn't quite sure because I kind of lost focus midway. He was basically reading off his own printed lecture transcript, which made me feel like he could've just sent it around by e-mail and I could have had a few more hours of sleep instead. I suppose it bothered me less that he was reading off a printout than the fact that he was pretty blasé about it. I got there late, but apparently when he began reading, everyone was apparently still chattering away. Got a decent mark on the mock listening comprehension we did in last week's LL251 seminar, so I guess I'm reasonably prepared for next week's examination. Did some reading related to my creative project while waiting for the China Miéville reading, which, by the way, was awesome. Embassytown seems like it's going to be incredible! I've got to wait for the American paperback to come out though, which is a bit of a bummer. China was being his usual erudite self. Today's big word was 'autotelic'. I had to Google it. (It means 'having a purpose in and not apart from itself', in case you were wondering.) I queued up to get an autograph (Looking For Jake because it was the first of his books I ever read), which I don't normally do. To be fair, I don't normally go to readings apart from when I'm at university anyway. It was just a bit weird, I guess, since China teaches me. I mean, I'm going to be seeing him for a seminar on the Brontës in less than 12 hours.

Episode 883: I'm No Scrooge, But...

Felt a bit silly today for paying so much for a ticket to The Tempest. Could've gone on Saturday instead and paid a third of the price instead, or if I'd been organised and sorted this out much earlier, I could've even gone for free! Oh well. It's not so much the extra cost that bothers me, since I've definitely been better at managing my money this year and so I've got a bit of a buffer by this point. It's just the annoying awareness that I could've used the money to, I don't know, buy another book or something. Anyway, here's the link to my review I promised a while ago, which was posted yesterday at The Cadaverine. Haven't been up to much today so far, since it's a Tuesday. Coming straight home after my seminar sure makes a difference though. I've caught up on all the shows, and it's not even 11 pm yet! With regard to Gossip Girl, incidentally, I'm definitely jumping on the Dair bandwagon. They don't even need to hook up. They can just become like best frenemies. Even that would be such an awesomely refreshing dynamic compared to having to watch Serena being blonde or Nate being thick or Chuck being scheming. The seminar itself went well. It's nice feeling properly prepared for a change, instead of practically winging it. One of the handouts we were given today was taken from a book I really should have read ages ago for my creative project, so I'm taking that as a sign!

Episode 882: Arts Centre Junkie!

Have finally finished reading King Lear. My favourite line? 'Out, vile jelly! Where is thy lustre now?' It's gruesome, horrifying, and sends chills down my spine every time I read it. Am now watching a bit more of Korol Lir so I don't go into tomorrow's seminar completely clueless, even though our group did meet up this morning to discuss what we're going to say in the seminar about the film and its relation to the text. I'm going to talk about how the King of France has to have a translator with him, whereas in the play, everyone of course miraculously speaks English. (You know, even if the play's set in Venice, Verona or Vienna!) In a way, this drives home the foreignness of the King of France and how Cordelia being wedded to him is essentially exile, in a way that isn't necessarily immediately apparent from the play, where armies sweep on and off the stage from the wings. It also raises the stakes, I feel, when the invasion from France happens. Randomly, I've turned into a bit of an Arts Centre junkie all of a sudden. Wednesday and Thursday, I'll be attending China Miéville's reading and a performance of Best Before respectively. Next week, also on a Thursday, I'm seeing the Cheek by Jowl production of The Tempest. Finally, Tuesday after that, I'm seeing a dance performance, LOL (Lots Of Love). Loads of stuff to look forward to! It also means that I really, really, need to start writing this play tomorrow afternoon.

Episode 881: I Hate Having A Cold...

Could finish reading King Lear if I sacrificed an hour or so of sleep, but instead, I've stopped after Act 3 Scene 3 and am now watching a bit of Kozintsev's Korol Lir, so that I'll have something to say tomorrow when meeting the other people in my seminar group who've been assigned this film. Not going to watch the whole film though. That'll have to happen tomorrow. I'm just getting through the first scene! The opening of Kozintsev's adaptation is already an interesting divergence from the text of the play anyway, with the peasantry trooping towards the castle across a barren countryside. I'll say though, it's a bit weird listening to the lines in Russian, even if there are accompanying subtitles. (Oh, bit of French just crept in there, a translator telling the King of France what Cordelia's just said to Lear.) Have also decided this afternoon that a lot of the so-called reading I was planning on doing for my creative project is, strictly speaking, unnecessary, since a lot of the material is more concerned with advancing particular interpretations, whereas the goal of my project isn't so much interpretation as trying to unpick precisely why there exists such potential for multiple interpretations to begin with.

Episode 880: Massive Oxfam Haul

Since I was in London, I had to make my customary stop at Oxfam Marylebone. Wasn't disappointed! Bought nearly £50 of books, rescuing (among other things) poetry collections from Carcanet, Shearsman, Templar Poetry and the tall-lighthouse. Very, very pleased, as I got all of them at more than 50% off the list price. I'm quite happy to pay for poetry, but it helps with building my personal library if I can occasionally get some collections at a steep discount. Was with Eugene Chan and Zilu, who both read Monocle, and we happened to see the store while walking to Nando's for lunch. Popped in, and I must say, I think Monocle has officially replaced The Economist as my intellectual magazine of choice. My new aim is to take out a subscription. Well-produced, looks striking on a coffee table, and boasts solid content to boot. It's perfect for me! Actually tempted to start subscribing now, except it's silly because I won't be in the UK for a continuous year. Can't start in Singapore over summer either, so it'll have to wait till I'm back in Warwick for my MA. Sent the application out yesterday at a Ryman's outlet, so here's hoping everything works out for me!