Photos of rehearsals

Wolf mask-making

Spent the good part of the day figuring out the wolf mask.

I was going to go to the sponge factory but on the way to tai chi I came across this mattress and sofa that someone threw out... so I bundled everything into a taxi... et voila!

My dog, Uncle Jo, was a model for the Wolf. It was really helpful for have a head in 3D that I could study.

I can't decide whether to keep the sponge structure or to smooth the whole thing over with gauze. I am a little afraid that I will ruin it and I kidn of like it rough. On the other hand, I think cubism works well for the wolf but possibly not for the Duck and however many other animals I choose to make. And perhaps there should be some consistency in style?

Liya's thoughts on the 4/2 version

Dear Liya-

Thanks for your thoughts on the earlier draft- some of which may have answers now in the latest version...

1. In scene 5 the princess rallying protester scene, if I were you, I wouldn’t let the two pigs say, "I suppose she know already… let’s get in there”, simply it seems too obvious a writer’s expedient device just to tie a knot on some tangent previously set up. Instead, I would let the scene roll in a cinematic edited kind of flow where the audience don’t see the 'reporting/informing the princess scene’ and jump straight to the 'princess’ response to the information’ scene’ which you did… so keep it clean like.

Yup, good call. The weak lines from the protest scenes are cut; actually they were there as a placeholder for a much bigger encounter between the Princess + ONE /THREE, where she refuses to see them because she sees them in the construction work uniforms.
Anyway, in the latest version the 3 pigs never get to warn the Princess because they get quarantined. For some reason for a play of this length I felt that it is better to keep the pigs as a unit... things are complicated enough as they are without splitting them up.

2. In the monopoly scene, I feel that the duck should be higher than madam wolf. Because you said in the synopsis that the wolf obtains the permit from the duck to do the de-construction work, so it means, Duck, the permit –dispenser, is higher in hierarchy. No???

Nope. Wolf definitely is higher.. government seems like they have the power, but are really under the thumb of the big businesses. In this case, Duck is coerced into helping Wolf because she has "friends" with the Standing Committee that will reelect him or not. Hopefully the new draft makes their relationship clearer.

3. In the Journalist interviewing the wolf scene… I feel 2/3 way through, you need a break-up from the existing rhythm, perhaps by going into some fantastical realm in the form of dance or singing… and don’ tell the whole story through the journalist scene…. Too explicit.
Instead of giving the journalist a "scene" with Wolf I have made her parts shorter and more scattered. I think the role of the journalist in this play is to transform time and space; to zoom it out from the individuals into a more epic, social space.

Now is there a place for transformative action in the play? There is one main one right now, with the Princess and Beethoven's 9th; and there are other subtle ones, like the pig fight. Also in the final scene there is a real mix of space - I am going to see if I can put Wolf in one corner of the room, Duck on the other, and the protesters by the tower (effectively surrounding the audience). I will also see what I can do with the tear gas/the Tower coming down / Moonlight Sonata.

I wish I had the time and talent to write songs; pumping music is about the best I can do.

Hey- thanks for taking the time for this.
Hofan.

First *completed* draft of the script

YES YES YES YES YES!

The script has an ending.
There are tons of questions that need to be resolved, some of which can happen only in the space. (The space itself raises a lot of transition/staging questions)

• Is there enough critical mass to get away with the things I do (e.g., Can Duck just catch bird flu out of the blue?)
• Can the story be even more essentialised without losing its colour/maintaining air-time for all students? The play has to be under 30minutes and I am worried that it may be too long.. but I don't' know this until I try things out with everything...

I am also depending on music a lot here so I need to try that out too:
1. Lain's theme
2. 2nd movement of Beethoven's 9th symphony
3. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata

Here is the script !

I have a day to edit before I have to give it to the students to learn their lines over Chinese New Year Break...

Singapore cafes: The challenge of rewriting

Been on tour in Singapore for a week, and so I've let the Dom-dom have a few days rest. So I went back to it yesterday, and thanks to some idea bouncing with my friend Tuen I now have an ending: Duck really gets bird flu, and in his dying breath, passes a law that effectively bans Wolfe from demolishing the Tower... but it is too late. The Tower is mostly destroyed; but the 3 pigs help the Princess build something new.

Oof. Now I just have to write it.

My student's response on the script on Saturday when I told them about the plot: "It's a bit complicated, isn't it." .. and it is. It is. Part of the reason is because I've been trying to create 12 characters each with their distinct moment of glory on stage... but it's true, it is complicated, it needs to be more simple, and the script needs cleaning.

So I spent the morning in the hotel room writing; and when my head exploded I went to swim; took a nap; and then spent the afternoon in the cafe writing. Rewriting earlier scenes is hard; what is most difficult is to keep the flow of the scene... something that comes naturally when you write in one go, but more difficult when you are editing from the middle. So I bought notepad and paper and wrote everything from scene one by hand.

I tried planting the idea that the Dom-doms habitually play sick with their mom in order to get out of housework, and therefore when they come up with H5N1 it is a well worn ritual; and also when mum exposes them it's not completely new. I thought that it might also tie in very nicely with the idea that mum yells at them 3 times (as per Marc-Andre's suggestion that I stick to the rule of three) before kicking them out. It took me the whole afternoon to realise why it wasn't working –
(a) it's not a matter of just hashing in 3 things; the 3 things have to accelerate in time + magnitude;
(b) 3 things bring a closure to things- I don't want a closure so soon
(c) actually, I like the freshness of Two-dom coming up with H5N1 at the critical moment… too early really spoils the creative capacity of the characters.
So it may be that I go back to something pretty close to the original.

I also started rewriting Duck + Wolf's scene (again). This time two games are going on simultaneously: the repartee with the dialogue, and the Monopoly game. This makes more sense… but I am still missing something crucial about Duck's character… what it is that makes him tick.

I have to finish the script by Tuesday (or if I really push it, deliver it to school Weds lunch) so the kids can learn their lines over Chinese New Year. I have no idea how this is possible, but somehow, it will have to pull through.

On way to Saturday's rehearsal

.. Still, at this particular moment I feel on top of things. I slept – for the first time in ages – for 9 hours last night. My script for the Dom-dom pigs is not finished, but I need to try some stuff out in space, and I've reached a point where I sense that it is time to exhale and say: this is where I am right now, and for now, it is enough. Actually, the past 4-5 days has been really interesting. I've really been pushing myself to get a script out, working in concentrated spurts. I can really sense when I need to push and get another scene out, and when it is more productive to pull back and take a nap, do tai chi, or a break. It can be 40 minute son the train, or 2-3 very concentrated hours after work (teaching at Capstone). Just get a scene, or even an encounter, out.

I've reached a point in the script where things get so hot that there is enough momentum for time and space to start fusing. So there is the possibility of a montage like quality – and this, I really need to try in the space to see how I can build the chaos + emotion and let it rip.. in an elegant way...

Right. To rehearsal.

Progress

Rewrote Scene 3 with Duck & Wolf. Wolf as a character is more menacing now, though I have to see about the rhythm of the whole scene again. That's the thing with re-writes... you don't get a sense of the whole as you do when you write it in one go.

As I am listening to music for the transitions, I realise that things can really be short-cut.
The Princess' speech, for example, just comes out really well with the 2nd movement of the 9th symphony and just really asks for a quick transition into rallying...

Thinking a lot on the spacing of the place, and how to stage everything. There is a lot of thought that needs to be put into the transitions; oh, and costume + sound to build up the whole theatrical space. How to build the Star Tower + big pig costumes with minimal effort + maximum return at short notice?


Two good articles on the Star Ferry Tower

• Demolition of Star Ferry & Queen's Pier
• Stop demolishing Star Ferry Pier