Woohoo, another play by The Little Company I'm looking forward to taking my son to. This will be sometime in March so while waiting, here's a teaser:
Singapore Repertory Theatre’s The Little Company proudly presents
Bear and Chicken Go Camping
A new play about the sun, moon and shooting stars
Written by Katerina Tiapula Directed by Michael Corbidge
SRT’s The Little Company will stage a new production called Bear and Chicken Go Camping in March 2009. Written by Katerina Tiapula, the play is the second part of a highly successful original series that began with When I Grow Up.
Synopsis Best friends Chicken and Bear go on a camping adventure in the Great Outdoors.Throughout the night, they make lots of amazing discoveries about the world such as shooting stars, what happens to the Sun at night and how come crickets can make such loud noises.
Written for children from 2 to 6 years old, Bear and Chicken Go Camping is a delightful and educational tale that stresses the importance of friendship even under difficult circumstances. It features a professional cast of actors who will perform catchy songs and dance routines against a colourful set.
“We have wonderful position in the market as the leading producer of children’s theatre in Singapore. We are proud of this investment in future audiences for the entire industry and are also very focused on creating new original Singaporean works for children with touring potential like the Bear and Chicken series”, says Artistic Director Gaurav Kripalani.
DATES: 5 March to 11 April 2009 – please see SISTIC for performance schedule PRICES: Mon-Fri $22 – Weekends $28 excluding SISTIC fee (Group discounts/Family Packages available) VENUE: DBS Arts Centre – Home of SRT TICKETING:SISTIC at 6348 5555 or www.sistic.com.sg WEBSITE:www.srt.com.sg
A quick intro of the characters for those who have yet to watch:
Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie: Pippa, the seemingly bimbo, sexpot receptionist who in my opinion is a lot smarter than her fellow colleagues give her credit for.
Michael Corbridge: Bob the slob, whom I have absolutely no idea what he does in the ad agency. I can only guess that he is perhaps the Art Director? to complete the make up of an ad agency.
Susan Tordoff: Patty (the accountant?) The stuffy divorcee with two kids who has a constant tension with Bob leading to a sexual brush - literally, at one point.
Wendy Kweh: Jo the beautiful, smart and womanly Accounts servicing person who came down from KL and is the object of fantasy for all males in the agency.
Jason Chan: Andy the mopey and serious Copywriter who is attracted (sexually or soulfully?) to Jo.
James Shubert: Gavin, Managing Director of Chapman & Howard who is both friend and foe to his team.
Shane Mardjuki: Lee the rookie graphics guy who has the hots for Pippa.
With enough friends in the advertising agency, I can only say that this play is as real as it gets in its depiction of the characters (and might I dare to disclose, some of the activities) that resides in some ad firms.
There's not much plot to it really but the entire play is about the uncovering of the issues that each character plays have.
Stereotyped casting appeared in the form of Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie, playing the ah girl style, bimbo, ah lian. This is not to say that she did not do a great job with it but I cannot for the life of me imagine her playing Jo or Patty for example.
Jason Chan's portrayal of Andy was captivating with a lot of inward emotions (something difficult to achieve in a theater setting, in my personal opinion) that were successfully projected to the audience (or at least those seated close enough to the stage)
Another wow actor was James Shubert who, without missing a beat or getting out of scene and character, responded to interaction with the audience and got the floor hooting with laughter at one point.
Hilarious lines with great comic timing (and the audience OBVIOUSLY loved the photocopied butts), the act was engaging in a way that the audience were participating like they were part of the cast at several points. My only grouse is that there was way too many lengthy rants from the characters and that got me yawning intermittently - or maybe it's just my antihistamine taking effect.. What puzzled me throughout the play is also why there is such a strong American and British accent in the various characters who supposedly helmed from Singapore and Malaysia.. hmmm..
I applaud each actor for the depth of show in the characters they play. However, i think this play would have pulled off better should the platform be television because much of the details in the actors' expressions were probably lost on those who were seated further away from the stage. Plus, I am extremely curious about the mentioned but never seen wives of Andy and Bob. TV directing next, Tracie?
At the advertising company Chapman and Howard, the staff have taken great pains to prepare for their traditional Christmas bash, and to ensure that they avoid any scandals similar to last year's which resulted in a visit from the police and the Managing Director's divorce! But when the drinks flow and the good times roll, the party lurches from one disaster to another.
Picture "The Office" meets "Love Actually" and you know you will be in for a rollercoaster ride of laughter, love and tears in this comedy which leads seven diverse characters - Bob the office buaya, Pippa the sarong party secretary, Lee the goodie two-shoes and a host of other crazy characters, through the minefield of office politics, petty differences, sexual harassment and hidden desires. And that's just another day at work!
Directed by Tracie Pang. Starring Wendy Kweh and Cynthia Lee Macquarrie.
Ticketing Details DATES: 27 November – 13 December 2009 TIMING: 8pm (Monday - Saturday), 4pm (Saturdays) PRICES: $58, $48 (Friday – Saturday, 8pm), $50, $40 (Monday – Thursday, 8pm & Saturday, 4pm) VENUE: DBS Arts Centre - Home of SRT TICKETING: SISTIC at 6348 5555 or www.sistic.com.sg
