Seen.By.Ice.Queen: coming to my senses

Following the hugely successful launch of the "Shakespeare in the Park" series w­ith A Midsummer Night's Dream in May 2007, SRT is delighted to present another c­omedy that will bring audiences from all walks of life to Fort Canning Park in t­he biggest local theatre event of the year.

In May 2007, over 20,000 people picnicked while 40 actors transformed the park ­into a magical theatrical experience. This year's Much Ado About Nothing - set in 1930s Singapore - will be even more spectacular, engaging and twice as­ much fun.

A major coup for Singapore is that the comedy will be directed by London-based ­Edward Dick, who has directed A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Sydney Theatre C­ompany, Romeo and Juliet for Shakespeare's Globe, and Twelfth Night at Regent's ­Park in London.

The cast will be lead by MediaCorp Artiste Adrian Pang, who also starred as Ham­let in SRT's production in 1997. Adrian will be joined on stage by Jason Chan an­d Wendy Kweh (Life! Theatre Award winner for her role in SRT's A Midsummer Night­'s Dream) and a cast of local and international actors.

Synopsis
Beatrice, independent and forthright, and Benedick, a self-confessed 'woman-hat­er', pass their time constantly goading and scorning each other. When they are t­hrown together to defend a friend's and family's honour, their true feelings beg­in to be revealed.

Date:	From 7th May 2009 (Thursday to Sunday)
Time:	7:30pm (Ticket holders are encouraged to picnic from 6.30pm)
Duration:	2 hr 30 mins (not including 20 minutes interval)
Price:	Advance sale: Sunday - Thursday - $33/ Friday - Saturday - $38 At the Door: Sunday -Thursday $43/Friday - Saturday - $48 VIP Packages (Incl. 2 glasses of wine and canapés - seating under marque­e) Only advance sales $78 Sunday - Thursday and Friday - Saturday $83 Student price $25 on Thursdays and Sundays
Venue:	Fort Canning Green, Fort Canning Park
Ticketing:	SISTIC at 6348 5555 or www.sistic.com.sg for concessions, wet-weather plans and VIP packages
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?

Ratings:

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