LIT FEST I: CAST

Written by: Tay Yip Teng, Terrence (23-A2), Ong Zen-An Joshua (23-U4)

Designed by: Chong Hern Hsuen, Rachael (24-O1)

On a cool evening on March 8, the College’s 900 seater auditorium was transformed into a state-of-the-art theatre, home to the annual Lit Fest production brought together by both Literature teachers and JC2 Literature students. The theme for this year was “Final Measures”, devised to mark the final time the texts in the current syllabus — Measure for Measure, Pride and Prejudice, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Caretaker, and Ariel — will be featured on stage as the newly minted JC 1 Literature embark on their study of new texts within a different syllabus. To prepare for the production, the JC 2 students organised their productions around their classes and began working with their mentors to conceptualise their performance shortly after their JC 1 Promotional Examinations. With much of the preparatory work done many months before the actual production, it is no wonder why so much of the magic that happened before the audiences’ eyes remained a major mystery for the uninitiated. Fret not, for The Origin* has arranged for the scoop to be delivered to your screen, told through the experiences of the actors of “Final Measures”! 

Look out! It’s the Cast

In this article, we have Koh Qi Rui and Faith Tan from 23-A2’s production ‘The Exhibition’, as well as Lee Chin Yi from ‘Wait Up, Whickham!: The Musical’, jointly produced by 23-E4 and 23-I2. Let’s hear from them!

1. What is your role in the play and what was the most difficult/interesting part of preparing for it? 

Qi Rui:I directed and acted for a small role in 23-A2’s production. As a director, I’d say the most interesting thing and most difficult thing to do was to have the creative capacity to design the lighting to enhance the atmosphere. As our production was based off 3 poems, rather than the other texts we studied (like the other classes), we needed to rely heavily on music and lighting in order to make the entire production a more immersive and engaging one, since we’re all quite sure that plainly listening to someone recite poetry for over 10 minutes will just be extremely sleep inducing. Though the process was long, I got the opportunity to experiment with the different light settings and explore many different types of background music on YouTube. Arguably this was a fun thing to do but this is also where the hard part comes. Initially I thought that the lighting and sounds would be tested out and finalised during the tech run (which was 2 weeks before the actual Lit Fest). However I was wrong as we only got to really actually finalise it on the day itself. I still remember the panic I felt during the tech run on the day of Lit Fest where nearly none of the light settings and music timings were correct. I vividly remember how literally 15 minutes before the doors opened to the audiences I was still standing in the control room, literally rapping out the correct light settings to my friend who was controlling the light settings while taking note of the time I had left before Mr Rodrigues had to chase me out. In the end I did convey everything I needed to convey to my friend and all that’s left for me to do is to pray for the best and trust that the lights will work just fine. Fortunately, it turned out just fine (at some parts the music was a few seconds off but I don’t think anyone realised). Because we acted as “exhibits” we initially had a red cloth over us (I was the second one so I couldn’t see what happened in the first scene). I couldn’t really tell what the lights were like so when I heard collective “woahhhh”, “woooo” and gasps from the audience, I was so incredibly relieved.

Faith:I played the doll in Plath’s poem “The Applicant”, who represents a haunting version of the ideal “wife” in a marriage who is reduced to a lifeless doll. I think the most interesting part of preparing for the role was practising my facial expression as I had to have a doll-like smile together with vacant eyes, and a sense of unnatural perfection which hopefully will give chills to the audience.

Chin Yi:I played "Commentator 1" in E4/I2's rendition of Pride and Prejudice, "Wait Up, Wickham!". The essence of the role was enacting modern reactions to the whims of the Regency Era. The most interesting part of playing this role was getting to experience the contrast between the lax nature of the modern era and the rigidity of the Regency Era. The costumes, visuals and acting all played equally important roles to make the production a success.

2. What are some modifications made to the original literature text to fit your production and how did you come to make these decisions?

Qi Rui: As mentioned, because the text we used was Ariel, we had to modify it in a creative way so that it does not become very dry and boring.  During one of the consultations with our teacher in charge, Ms Ng Hui Qi, she suggested we adapt it into a form of an exhibition, to present to the audience the different struggles the female personas went through. The scriptwriters, Si Yu and Sean, accepted the idea and managed to produce a wonderful script.

Faith: While we did not modify the poems, we did use the curator’s lines to weave through the different poems and exhibitions, which also provided some kind of commentary on the poems and their effects.

Chin Yi: The commentators were new roles added to display the intrinsic differences between them and the Regency characters. Besides this, we also turned it into a musical for comedic effect and character development. This helped in conveying how our happy-go-lucky protagonist, Lydia Bennet, descended into sadness as her marriage falls apart. Overall, the play vividly presents the comedy of manners, while fleshing out Lydia’s deteriorating state of mind under societal pressures.

3. Can you describe the process your class took to come up with a script for the play?

Qi Rui: To be completely honest, I think my class was one of the last to come up with a solid idea. Initially, before the year end holidays we had a really short discussion after a Lit lecture. At that point our idea was to adapt Pride and Prejudice into a game show but that’s where the discussion ended. The first draft of the play was supposed to be due on 12 Jan and on 1 Jan we were still not done. One of the scriptwriters then approached Ms Ng and asked whether we could have an extension. Instead of getting a simple response Ms Ng actually suggested that we adapt the play based on Ariel instead of Pride and Prejudice since there already is another class using Pride and Prejudice and also none of the classes did Ariel. So that was how we were persuaded to modify Ariel instead. Though we were reluctant at first (especially because we had not studied Ariel at the point in time), we eventually grew on it. Through numerous Discord calls, late night texts and arranging consults with teachers we finally came up with the script that we’re all proud of.

Faith: I was not part of the script-writing process so I won’t say too much! But we did edit the script based on the performance of individual characters after a few rehearsals, such as how the address of the doll was changed to “Come out, sweetie, rise and shine!”, where the false cheeriness could be contrasted with the chilling atmosphere of the play. 

Chin Yi: Right off the bat, we already knew that we wanted to have musical elements in our play since our class had many musical talents and we wanted to incorporate that to make it our very own unique production. We also thought deeply about the scene that we chose as a class (Lydia and Wickham going back home after their wedding scene) and how we could present it in a different light that was insightful and comedic at the same time.

After two gruelling full-day rehearsals to perfect their acting skills and coordinate large-scale transitions between different productions, both the Cast and the Crew were ready to spring into action and deliver the best rendition of their texts. As guests were ushered in, the students took their positions backstage, awaiting the sacred cue from the event emcees that would introduce their production and accord them the licence to unleash the fruits of their creative output. The Stagehands, on the other hand, concentrated on changing the set and helping actors put on their microphones. Seamlessly, the productions managed to captivate the audiences’ attention achieving their intended effects. Indeed, their swan song was met with a mix of emotions from the audience: merriment and misery, trepidation and anticipation, as well as thunderous applause and deafening silence. For the curtain call, Stagehands, Cast and Crew were invited back onstage to the cheers and applause from the audience. Just as the five texts and their characters would make their final appearance in the A Level Literature papers, this cohort of Literature students have most certainly designed “Final Measures”to not only apply their learning practically, but also serve as a fitting, core memory of their final year of study in Eunoia Junior College.