Gifted

17 Ramadhan 1433

It's a measure of the strength of yesterday's afternoon of drama that I found myself thinking of all three of the plays we enjoyed in the odd reflective moment in the course of today. In truth, given the ability of those involved with whom I am familiar I expected something good, but even then found myself a little surprised at how well-integrated the show was. The basic concept of Living Rooms (the overall title) carried through all three pieces, but they were really quite refreshingly different in the kinds of theatrical experience they offered.

Two were written by students I know - Jing Yan and Luke - and they couldn't have been more different. Jing Yan's short play Inheritance was dark, nervous, edgy, but had enough story to grip. And, in retrospect, what a haunting story it was. If you'd have told me it was concerned with sexual abuse prior to watching it I think I'd have been worried that young performers (and their directors) wouldn't be able to handle such explosive content, but I'd have been wrong. It was the restraint, I think, that gave it a kind of odd power. Luke's The Untitled Funeral Play was gloriously unsubtle and frantically comic in an unapologetically in-your-face manner. Very difficult to make this kind of thing work and keep up the pace from beginning to end and the cast delivered superbly.

Which left Postgrads by one Joel Tan for after the interval. I knew it was going to be really good because Luke told me so in a quick chat in the interval, and he was not wrong. And it struck me that apart from the obvious individual talents on show (I mean three finely constructed dramas by three different young writers in an essentially 'amateur' production is quite something) the outstanding feature of the afternoon was the sense of deep cooperation from all concerned. The performers genuinely seemed to want each other to shine, and the four players in Postgrads certainly did so. It was particularly nice to see them playing roles (presumably) close to their own experience. I learnt a lot about what bright twenty-somethings get up to in this Far Place.

I suppose what I most appreciated about the whole offering was the fact that those involved saw fit to entertain us, so it felt like something genuinely offered, a gift if you would.