LIT FEST II: PRODUCTION

Written by: Tay Yip Teng, Terrence (23-A2), Tan Yi Ling (23-A2)

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 LitFest production brought together by both Literature teachers and JC 2 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 production managers and stagehands of “Final Measures”!

Meet the Production TeamIn this article, we have the producers for “Final Measures”, Bernita Rayen and Oon Jie Rong from 23-I1, as well as Kate Tan, a stagehand from 23-U1. Let’s hear it from them!

1. For the producers, what was the greatest challenge you faced in coordinating efforts across the whole cohort?

Jie Rong: Out of the many difficult challenges faced during the production (and pre-production) of Lit Fest, I would say that the multi-class and inter-class coordination was the most challenging issue we faced. Given that my fellow producer Bernita and I were both from the same class, we faced many issues trying to coordinate across 5-6 different classes with radically different timetables; not to mention, the coordination between the busy schedules of teachers and students also further complicated things. Due to these administrative issues, we had many delays in production as we had to find the few common times in which the production teams could actually come together to discuss and do anything, on top of the many other responsibilities that we as students had to juggle.

2. Looking back on the production, how would you define the success of the production?

Bernita: Lit Fest was the most chaotically amazing and fulfilling event I have ever participated in. The long hours, the frustrations over stage lighting and blindly scampering on the stage while trying to paste tape on the floor were the small moments that led to creation of Lit Fest 2024. The true success of the production lies in the fact that everyone consistently showed up and committed to their roles whether small or big. They rose above the frustrations and difficulties and supported one another to put up a show that our batch is so immensely proud of despite its flaws and errors. That is how I would define our success - a culmination of efforts that we are completely and utterly proud of!

3. Do you have any regrets/takeaways from your role as Producer?

Jie Rong: In terms of my capacity as a producer, I am happy to say that I don’t really have any regrets with regards to the production of Lit Fest, especially given that working with my fellow producer Bernita made the work far, far more manageable than it would have been as a one-man team. Of course, it would be disingenuous not to mention the work of our wonderful production team which helped execute the entire production – without them, Lit Fest wouldn’t have been the spectacular experience that it was, and I hope I speak on behalf of the producers (and hopefully the entire Lit Fest Exco as well) in expressing our immense gratitude to everyone who contributed to the planning and execution of Lit Fest 2024.

Bernita: I generally do not have any regrets as a producer! However one of my biggest takeaways has to be the fact that through Lit Fest I have truly understood the meaning ‘teamwork makes the dream work”. As a producer (together with my other producer Jie Rong) we felt inclined to somewhat take up all the responsibilities, as essentially we oversee the production in its entirety. However, we were surrounded by enthusiastic and dedicated stage hands, stage managers, actors and sound crew who were all very integral in the smooth running of things. Working together with all of them has been such a blessing!

4. Moving on to the experiences of the stagehands, we want to know, Kate: Why sign up to be a stagehand, on top of contributing to your class’ production?

Kate: I think my main reason for deciding to sign up for stagehand was to contribute more to the class' production. My other role on top of being a stagehand was to be in charge of props, and my workload for that role wasn't especially heavy. In addition to this, I think it was convenient for me to take up stagehand as part of the props team, I already had the mindset and the perspective of how the props team would view the stage and how they would curate their props to better suit their own productions, and this helped me to think further on how I could better position the props as well when moving them on stage as the stagehand. Furthermore, I think I'm not suited for much of the writing or acting roles for Lit Fest, so I naturally gravitated towards more hands-on roles! The role of a stagehand was really great for me because it allowed me to move around during the event and to get a glimpse of the scenes backstage. Being a stagehand requires you to act quickly and make decisions quickly which I think I was really suited for!

5. How would you describe your role as a stagehand? What were some funny or memorable experiences/moments you had, be it during rehearsals or the actual performance?

Kate: I think my role as stagehand allowed me to make intimate connections with everyone on the team. As a stagehand, you can interact with all the people who are part of the production: the writers, so that you can better understand how they write the play and how to set the stage accordingly, the actors and actresses as we interact with them backstage and receive feedback from them from time to time, and the other stagehands! I think the ability to be able to connect and interact with so many different people in the wonder team that made Lit Fest come true made me realise how much I enjoyed the position. Seeing how everyone worked together, including how different perspectives and roles came together was truly amazing! I also really enjoyed my time backstage because I could observe the actors and actresses before they go on stage, it was really heartening to see how they prepare themselves and hype their friends up. One memorable moment was during the curtain call when the stagehands finally went on stage and did their bow. I think it was memorable because our role required us to stay backstage and to finally come out and face the audience with the backstage team felt like the perfect ending to Lit Fest!

6. How did you feel about the success of the production at the Curtain Call?

Kate: I think considering I wasn't very thrilled about Lit Fest at first, I was really proud of our work and what we did at the end of the day. Regardless of how many small mistakes we made, we still put up a performance that people enjoyed. After so many dry runs everything got a bit mundane and frustrating, so to finally have an audience that clapped, laughed and interacted with us was very refreshing. Even though I was only backstage, I was really happy and proud that we were able to be a part of something that gave the other students joy. Only after everyone went on stage for the curtain call did I realise how large our production crew was and that made me even more proud because I knew some of my friends and peers really put so much effort and hard work into these productions, and seeing their success made me overjoyed.

Conclusion

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.