Of Thunders and The Odyssey
Hmm.There,the first day of my holiday began with the NYJC English Drama Club's performance in the evening yesterday.To be honest,i was pretty hyped and excited about it,since the last time i saw a drama production was ages ago.Not that i am a big fan of drama production or anything,but i think it is my responsibility,as a friend,to be there to show my support.I dont know any of the people performing really.Not personally at least.I know WanJun,LiuYin and Shariffah,who was mainly in charge of the backstage work,especially the music and costumes.(Which were beautifully done by the way.)WanJun had a small part in a dance and my main focus was of course on MeiJian who did a song at the second part of the play.Which she of course,nailed.Anyway,lets start off with the preparation work i had to do before heading off to school.Clouds were gathering outside my window as i put on my pants and plugged the headset into my ears.Grabbed my umbrella and ran out of the house and hopefully,reach the school in time before the rain starts to pour.It started drizzling when i reached the first floor.Though it wasnt heavy,i opened my umbrella and walked into the rain.It had been raining like that at the same time everyday for the past week.Not that i dont like rain or anything,i just hate the fact that i have to risk getting myself drenched outside the comfort of my room.Anyway,so there i was walking to school when the road before me brightened up,as if someone suddenly turned on a giant street lamp.Flash.Moments later,a sudden boom ripped across the sky and into my ear.My heart skipped and looked to the sky from under my umbrella and saw the threatening clouds gathering quickly and furiously above.Lightnings after lightnings,thunders after thunders,i quickened my footsteps as continued my journey to school.Today's thunder was unusually loud and scary.A few hours ago clouds were nowhere to been seen in the sky.Odd.So i reached school a little earlier and met up with Ahmad and Jessica,as well as Samuel who was doing his CIP hours.As i walked up the stairs beside LT4 our "favourite" councellor,Wu XuanDe came up and greeted me.I dont have much grudge against that guy or anything.However,the girls seem to have some major problem with him.I guess he's trying too hard to be friendly,especially to girls.I mean his pick up line was simply horrible.Oh well,those are not my words,quoted.Anyway,so i talked with Ahmad and tried to kill time as i waited for Rachel to come.As usual,she was late.Been busy picking out clothes i guess.She finally arrived at 730 and we rushed into the LT and got ourselves a seat in the centre row.Valerie came as well,Corinna did too.And four of us sat together just as the lights went out.For some reason it went on and off for a couple of times,which got me wondering if the show was ever going to start.Finally,the show started,and we all got excited about it.It started with a bunch of masked people walking onto the stage."What does it mean to love,to...".I got lost after that.Then the show started yada yada.I shall not go into details about the story since i dont understand it at all.Well the basic structure of the story can be understood,but i dont see the meaning to it.After the show i was still wondering to myself what does it mean to love,which was the theme of the play.Anyway,Gideon was the main actor,and his costume was sweet.Reminded me of Brat Pitt's costume in Troy.(Since they are both Greek Mythology)Samantha plays Penelope,his wife,who has some bad relationship with her mother in law.Gideon got marooned on an island with his 3 stupid crew members,and met up with Cyclops,this monster built by the Ex AEP students,controlled by 3 drama members.Then they met up with this seductress,whom Gideon's character had sex with.Of course,that part was interrupted by the intermission.Damn.Anti-climatic.Hasif played this,female god thing.I dont even know why she was there.I dont know her significance to the story,and also her part in the story.However,Hasif's performance made me doubt if he can play anything well other than a female.He's really good as a woman.Samantha and Gideon both sang pretty well,considering the fact that they are drama members instead of choir singers,they were pretty good.Anyway,the story went on,with a few modernised storyline intercut between the anciet ones.Which included a dance performance by the drama members,in which WanJun participated.That was nice.(I didnt understand why it was there as well,but it was entertaining,who cares.)Also another dance by Circe,if i spelled that right.She didnt sing,but the drama members did."All that Jazz" from the film,"Chicago".What has it got to do with the story?I have not a clue.My review on the play?Well,lets start with the bads.When there is a serious fight scene between characters,especially between 2 of the best actors,Samantha and her mother in law,they tend to speak really fast.Though very loud,but like someone said afterwards,muffled.The music was loud,which means that i couldnt hear what the actors were saying.Partly because the speakers were above my head.I guess i got lost because of the fact that i couldnt hear the actors properly.Might have enjoyed the play more if i actually understood why her mother in law killed herself.I was like,"What?".The play reminded me of Martin Scorsese's movies.One which goes nowhere.One which you dont necessarily understand the storyline.Like a headless fly,you dont know where the story is going.Something happens,you solve that problem,you move on.And you dont see the problem having any significance in the story whatsoever.Ultimately,the story is about Gideon's character's journey back home to his loved one.But i dont see how the dances are linked to the story.Worst thing of all,the dances wont be included in their SYF performance because they wont be judged by the music and the dance.That stinks,because in my opinion the best part of the play was actually the dances itself.And as for the good parts,well actors that should be named are Hasif,Samantha,Sanjeeda and the mother in law.(Dont really know her name.)The lighting was nice,added a mystical feel to everything,and Shariffah,great work on the buttons.MeiJian's performance was what made the tickets worthwhile.The mere two minutes sent the audience in an uproar.Like i said before,the dances were great.Holy hell,the costumes!They were awesome.Which explained why LiuYin and WanJun were so stressed.5 of them had to make every single costume out of nothing.Incredible.In which i credited them in front of the whole LT later on,addressing them as the,"Unsung Heros".A few comic reliefs here and there added humor to the play,with the girl running about before Gideon killed her,as well as the erotic jokes.However,since this is a play ultimately about anciet greek mythology,i dont think terms like,"Eye Drop" should be even mentioned.Weird.However,they were pretty funny anyway.The story was weak,however i cannot deny that it was a good performance,and that i enjoyed it.I guess if the story was improved i wouldve enjoyed it more.Great applause to the backstage crew as well as the cast,great stuff for your part.All right,here ends the review of The Odyssey.After which we congratulated the crew and the actors,and wanted to go out for supper.However,they were too tired and some wanted to go home,leaving me as the only enthu one around.Oh well,so i had to resist the temptation of a ice cream cone and head on home.Saw Valerie and Corinna home,and went home alone on the wet pavement.The school has a whole new different view at night.Its all quiet,and the field was extraordinarily silent.Stepping on the wet soggy grass was pretty comfortable.I challenged Rachel for a 2.4 run around the track in pitch black.Of course we headed back after 20 metres or so.Thats all folks.Enjoy your day and,have fun.This is Weilien,out.

Song of the Moment---Lullabye by Shawn Mullins