志异 Draft by Drama box July 2014 (english) | Page 8

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audience who preferred more facilitation to encourage
or ensure participation.  No one had intervened in the
play throughout the run, although the cast was prepared.
But many responded during the post-show discussions,
saying that they had thought of intervening during the
fight scenes and felt guilty that they did not. But we told
them that was not our intent. It was not to catch them
out. We don’t want to judge them, because engagement
can happen in many other ways and at different levels.
Basically for us, we don’t want surveillance, we want
freedom. But when we have the freedom, are we able
to manage our very own disagreements and conflicts?
Singaporeans now are very articulate and eloquent, very
sensitive of our rights. In the age of social media, we have
to reflect on how we use it. The character in Poor Thing
uploads a fight video during the accident on Facebook.  
The audience is able to discern the difference between
how the uploaded video is going to be received on Facebook (out of context) and what is actually happening on
site because the audience has access to both expressions.
The audience is witness to how a character has provoked
the opposite party, video-recorded her provoked state
and uploaded the video. This is done out of freedom but
is the intention to mislead the Facebook audience (who
has limited perspective) really a responsible act? Should
we, who receive such video clips on Facebook then be
more discerning and defer judgement until we get a fuller
picture?

*plurality & postmodern sensibilities—