But the first has more storyline and mushiness haha(: Tyler Gage / Channing Tatum came back and absolutely blew the first battle with Andy at the club.

Cool, applause ;)

Just watch it seriously but if you can't stand the heavy club beats and meaningless movies, hehe this is not for you (:

You could steal my heart, turn it into a machine, control it, mould it,

And you'd still get away ( through the rain and out of sight )

Reach for me;
And take me to higher ground..

It is a very, very exceedingly extremely wonderful devised piece, about war. Go watch it!

A dynamic and compelling work of physical theatre examining the kamikaze spirit. War is by no means something that starts overnight, but rather a very calculated preparation by political forces. The indoctrination of the glory of death and the brandishing of the rifle and sword from the corporeal expression of six actors reveals how humans can lose the sense of being Human. Advisory: Mature Theme (12 years and above)

That's just the synopsis given on the crashout and gatecrash webpages, but I'm here to give you a play-by-play and my thoughts on the performance, even if we weren't asked to do the drama j. cuz someguymoumourenz didn't want to mark. :D

So mean :D

Well, we saw the King from a thousand different things! and I think the Prince but he didn't recognise us. Haha. Same people always meet again, in the drama scope.

Anyways; the Necessary Black Box was an interesting location, as its name describes it it literally is, a black box. Which is for multi-purpose use. They had three main elements - pool of water, sand and lighting. Okay maybe plus one more - use of the gigantic screen behind the "stage" which some videos were played occasionally at specific times during the performance.

As the synopsis says, okay I'm condensing this into my own words, the storyline is about war and trying to fathom why people fight and war ensues although all it does is cause harm to people. Millions and millions of people who are ravaged by this.

The scene started off with 6 actors, of different nationalities, dressed in simple white shorts and tank tops/singlets. And they played a game, somewhat like "Coca-cola", where you have to step on another person's foot with a given number of steps. And they'd say: China declares war on.. Russia! In 14 steps. And the game goes on.

I think this is meant to show that it was unintentional; how it started off as a game. Just a game, between friends. Just having divided from "Mother Earth", into various nations. When different countries were friends.

And then they discovered a brown long-sleeved cardigan, and army pants with a buckle. They let Amy wear it. All were singing joyfully in song, with Amy leading them; and then she ran off. The other five, left confused, returned to search for similar outfits in the sand. Soon one by one found them; but all with differing reactions. Most of them grabbed the garments and clutched them protectively. One went: "I will join you." And they left together, for war. But in the end, no one waited for anybody else. As animosity and distrust built up, there was very obvious tension from the silence albeit the rustling of putting on the uniforms. Mood was clear as well. The last one, however, found a Commando's jacket. And he would be the first leader.

Game evolving to the next stage. Competitive; now separated they stand.

This man with the jacket forced them to stand in one line; going through trial after exercise in their training. It was tiring but meant to do them good. And then in the night when all were resting, the chinese fellow took the jacket lying in the centre, and became the next "Ruling General". He was really cruel and I think was meant to show a likeness to Hitler; he kept laughing and forcing the others to roar with laughter. The mood however was tense as the laughter was fake, pretending to be genuine in the face of cruelty. The indian man got his mouth stuffed with sand. That was the snapping point of the string; made an impact. Thus following that, almost all the soldiers took turns to become the next General.

Cruelty and the Abomination named War.

They made use of the water element when they were forced to put their faces in repeatedly. In, out, in, out. This showed the anguish as said by the Brazilian Director and the "refreshing" wake up call of vicious reality. Ont guy actually resisted the temptation to gain power though, and I think he's the tallest guy named Zachary. Cool. And then Amy was eager to finally get her turn, thus forcing them to stand in a line. Here they made a joke! "2B or not 2B. That is the question." Philosophical Shakespearean. Anyway she asked some of them, what they desired. The answer being: women. ( pronounced wee-mehn ) then, what they would like to do with them. to that they produced quite gross answers. Except Zac who longed for only one. :O

To capture what is not rightfully yours (women) in war, and claim it as such. To take away the virgin freedom of others. But tell me soldiers, are you not the ones in captivity as well?

And there was this part where all of them were drunk. And they began to fantasize and write letters to the people they missed back there in their homeland. The touching one was two lovers separated by war and it changed their relationship, however close they wanted it to be it just couldn't come true. Appealed to the emotional side. He twirled her like a doll :O but the love was silent-sacrifice and two sided. Which was good. A section where this spanish/mexican guy spoke in his own tongue; the point here was actually not what the words meant, but the melody and tone of the voice, a part which came from the actor himself. Making use of what they had to improvise! Fantastic. The chinese spiky-haired guy spoke about the turmoils and lies/secrets he kept from his family member; but still when he wanted to confess much much later, he could no longer do so.

Missing home. I love you too much to pen down anything which could summarize what I'm feeling right now.

A section, where they sang the enemy's national anthem. They were rebuked and taught another song about the fierce eagle. This was unusual and we laughed as they sang staring up at the screen- karaoke style. The words filled up with colour as they sang it! Haha. But it underlined the foreign understanding of patriotism. What does it actually mean? To sing a song you believe in? To die and sacrifice oneself for your own country because it demanded so?

Induced many thoughts and alleyways I never thought would be connected to war.

I think there are many other impactful bits. But when the last part came; and they all decided to stop playing the game, which had evolved into much much more; stripped off their army gear, and jumped down with dignity and a sense of letting go; remaining with the white apparel they had originally started off with. And all of them began, in Marie's words "Why are they dancing?! Why is there so much dancing" to stretch and flex and try to be the country they were right from the start, before war had ravaged them. Then they kind of became friends again; but what do friends do best? Play games. And thus the cycle begun; the final scene closed with a loud "Stop!" as the Declaration of War game began and the thoughts of who to attack next raced through the first player's mind.

World War II?

Really good. I'm sorry if I kinda spoiled the whole thing for you, but I honestly learned a TON about control, conflict and mood from this piece. Done by students, if you can believe it! Who improvised for a month and produced this magnificent collaboration piece. Oh sorry I forgot to add in, the last part also included a short video showing some older generation Singaporeans talking about how the Japanese treated them. And this old funny Dill guy! accidentally mentioned how America's President was weird. :D And then he kept going, "Will I get into trouble for this? Eh I don't want to get in trouble for this. You can edit this out right? This is not going to be on TV?" Then they repeated his line again and again LOL.

We got to speak to the Director, Leela Alaniz! and see the 4th cohort of actor-students, all the performers; AMY TAM, SOO MING, SREEJITH RAMANAN, SAJEEV PURUSHOTHAMA, RUIZ LOPEZ and ZACHARY HO. They are simply awesome!

Very good. Best Mr A has brought us to! I ain't kidding!

Details:

The Necessary Black Box,
29 Feb to 02 Mar 2008, 8pm
01 to 02 Mar 2008, 3pm
TTRP- Theatre Training and Research Programme presents

The Divine Wind and Tears Lost in the Rain.

What I just can't fathom is what inspired the title.