Izyan Nadzirah
Great Expectations
Rafflesian Times
20
‘ Mr Philip Liau , our principal then , was very supportive of our new direction . In fact , he challenged us further . Great Expectations wasn ’ t our first choice ; initially we wanted to borrow a musical directly from the operas but Mr Liau suggested writing an original musical . We took two weeks to crack our heads to come up with a musical and when Mr Liau gave the go ahead , the rest , as they say , is history ,’ Dr Richard revealed .
In fact , the second page of the programme booklet archives for posterity how the musical came about . Titled ‘ How It All Started ’, the page provides a brief history of the Annual Play and how they arrived at the decision to stage Great Expectations . It also explains how the musical was one the Players could ‘ truly call their own ’.
When Performance Day came around , all the drama unfolded . One of the Players had a breakdown , crying uncontrollably throughout the last rehearsal , and many members suffered a case of last-minute nerves , suddenly doubting their ability to go through with the play . Fortunately , when the curtains were finally raised , they had calmed their nerves and the show proceeded apace .
I feel that , ultimately , the audience understood that we were a group of inspired youths who wanted to showcase our talents
Things however , did not proceed wholly in their favour . For starters , the hall was not air-conditioned and the month of August , as Singaporeans know , is notoriously humid . As the audience packed the small hall and waited for the play to start , complaints were voiced about the heat .
‘ We also had to deal with the acoustics in the hall , which were horrid ,’ claimed Harold . The back audience could barely hear the actors who were attempting very hard to project their voices louder and louder . ‘ It was an open hall , without any doors to contain the sound . Multiply that with the grousing of the audience and the whirring of the fans and you can only imagine the chaos .’
Additionally , the external audience who came for the play was unaware that the musical did not entirely parallel the literature text that they had come to know . The Players admit it was their own fault — whilst hawking musical tickets at other schools , they had portrayed the musical as a must-see to better comprehend the text ! Instead , the audience was surprised by pop songs with refurbished lyrics , and a trio of goofy sex-bomb characters inserted into the adapted text of Great Expectations . In their defense , Harold and Richard admitted that they had been over-zealous in their efforts to get bums on seats .
Richard and Gloria agreed wholeheartedly that the musical was ‘ uniquely Rafflesian ’. ‘ I feel that , ultimately , the audience understood that we were a group of inspired youths who wanted to showcase our talents ,’ Gloria pointed out . ‘ Furthermore , the audience was never privy to what went on behind the scenes — the pain that went with it , the homework piling up , the sore throats and the lethargy . In fact , all this was expressed in a nine-stanza poem in the programme booklet itself !’