“Drama Night 2009” was a tremendously successful event, held on both 15 May and 16 May; it was warmly received with an audience that filled an entire Lecture Theatre on both days. The overall performance, “Timepieces”, comprised six ten-minute short plays, all of which touched on the various aspects of life and some of the challenges that we face. The profound significance of the play was coupled with light-hearted humour that served to drag the audience into the drama’s dimension and facilitate understanding of the plays. The hilarity and the intriguing storylines, compounded with the curious suspense, succeeded in capturing the audience’s attention and garnering their support.

The performance began with “The Kill”, which was an inspiring play fraught with tension and speculations as the happenings unfolded gradually. The idea of dreams and reality was raised through its dark storyline, in which the notion of death and murder manifested itself as the leading element of the play. It further heightened the tight suspense when the male character raised the knife to the female character on the pretext of re-enacting his dream, which seemingly almost led up to a self-fulfilling prophecy as he attempted to recreate the scene of murder that appeared in his dream. It was only at the end that the audience glimpsed the truth behind the morbid behaviour of the characters. The greatly riveting play stole the admiration of the audience, and it was definitely a glorious inception to the event.

Following “The Kill” was “On the Frontier”, which featured Zen Tan as a volunteer who helped to counsel youths calling the crisis hotline. After a series of annoyances and unproductive calls, he received a call from a young girl who claimed that she was going to kill herself with the revolver that lay in her laps at that moment. Upon hearing this, he desperately tried to save the girl, but his efforts were interrupted when a new presence barged into the whole scenario. Hopelessness overcame him as the phone call died, and he realised that he had failed in helping the girl. An ambivalent sense of hope and helplessness was present throughout the play, as he strived to counsel the girl in a bid to cease her suicidal thoughts. The play eventually culminated in a spiritless ending, where it broached the depression that one suffers in life and the struggle to live, offering fodder for deep contemplation. This play showed us clearly the inner battle that one has with himself or herself and examined the value of existence.

Throughout the entire “Drama Night”, love—a cardinal facet of life—presented itself in the plays “French for love letter” and “Mim & Max”. “French for love letter” explored the deep, swirling emotions behind a simple crush and show us that there is much more to a person’s feelings than what is on the surface; the quality of being in love, especially mutual love, took up an important role in this play. It reminded us of the courage that is required for love to be true and successful, which was also an idea similarly conveyed in “Mim & Max”, where the proverbial notion of love at first sight came true and where fate brought two ordinary people together to form an extraordinary bond. The feelings of being in love, the speculations, the fears and the doubts swirled in the male character’s mind, and the gradual transition from a lack of understanding to the state of understanding represented the development in the relationship. Both plays touched on the value of love and all that comes with it.

As we discuss love, we must not forget the equally sincere and purposeful aspect of life—friendship. “Twenty Dollars” delves into the notion of trust between friends, as well as the ceaseless competition between classmates, sparked by envy and indignation. What does friendship truly stand for? The play subtly insinuates questions on the worth of friendship and the importance of this quality. The heart-warming events that moved along a scale of largely polar limits demonstrated the all-too-common falsity of friendship and the trials that friends face.

Other plays include “Dead Rites”, which was set in the customs in the otherworld, where ghosts congregate to gain access to the secular realm. The play exhibited the teetering balance between concern and control through the role of a dead mother, whose insistent ideas on her family’s behaviour finally became the true concern that it was meant to be. It showed us that certain things in life are not up to us, and it is not our prerogative to intervene in the lives of other people’s. Abysmal meaning pervaded the play, and the jocular nature that accompanied the sombre mood made the play all the more enjoyable.

All in all, “Timepieces” was an astoundingly amazing showcase of life’s ups and downs, disinterring the hurdles that everyone faces in life and sharing with us the simple, pristine joys of life that are the results of the courage to live on. It was a play that deserved everyone’s attention, and the warm reception was clear from the thunderous applause and many accolades.

Written by Kwek Ming Hong