Awakening - 贾宝玉

It was by chance that I was at Sistic website, and got to know that Edward Lam x Denise Ho's Awakening would be staged in Singapore as part of the Huayi, Chinese Festival of Arts 2013 at the Esplanade. So quickly grabbed a ticket a month before its scheduled date and there were just that few tickets left! Woa..it is that popular!

ticket to Awakening

It's been ages since I last saw any theatre play. The last one was sometime during my uni days. Keke.

Awakening is adapted/inspired/re-interpretation from/of the Chinese classic, Dream of the Red Chambers (红楼梦). Dream of Red Chambers is one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. I've only read bits and pieces of translated and if not wrong, a graphical version (not the novel version) of this, so went to see the play with a rather open mind.

Awakening booklet

Of course having Denise Ho (何韵诗) as the protagonist, 贾宝玉 (Jia Baoyu) made it more interesting. Star attraction! And, cute!

The anyhow bought seat was quite good. Can only afford the second cheapest seat (@$48++), at Level 4 and it was almost smack right in the middle! woOhOoo! The stage can be seen clearly though the actresses looked pretty small from up there.

Stage setup was good, with the pillars and all, liked the way the moveable screen was used for digital multimedia, the snow was effective, the music was good, the actresses were great and they looked like they're having fun and immersed when playing the roles. The stories unfolded in an interesting way, and loved the added local flavour to some of the dialogues. Brilliant! Talented people, witty script and an enjoyable production! Interesting for swear words to be scripted inside as well. Definitely for mature audiences!

There are scenes that makes one ponder on life. The scene where Baoyu loses his jade. In the story, he was born with a piece of jade in his mouth and thus, was propelled to celebrity-like status. Well protected, and pampered by the Grand Matriach. However, when he loses his jade, the entire household was thrown into a frenzy and Baoyu asked, "Why are you looking for the jade? I am here, aren't I?" A question worth asking. Is our self-worth (as perceived by self as well as others), determined by our inner strength or by material possession?

There was also another question on whether it is better to be true to one's self and show emotion as it is, or o mask everything because as Xue Baochai puts it, "Nobody wants to be around someone who is always sad or unhappy." Bitter laugh.

The second half of the play were mostly sad as it dealt with parting and death, so sniffles/nose blowing could be heard in the theatre. *sobs* Also liked how Lin Daiyu's words were replayed at the later part after her death. Impactful and haunting.

Overall, a very good play and thoroughly enjoyable.

There was a Visa Infinite promo, so got a free glass of wine thrown in as well. Muahaha! And Gold Roast was one of the sponsors, so received a sampler pack of coffee too! Double muahaahaha!

Downside, was the super duper long queue to the restroom. Bleh. Plus the super duper narrow space to move to the seats.. especially if have to pass through people who are already seated. Painful for long legged peeps as the setting makes it prone for people to knock onto your legs!