Reported by:
Michael Ng Sr3A

      “In the darkest of nights, clustered stars still shine bright.”

     Due to the pandemic, the Drama Club has moved their originally planned stage productions online, thus presenting “Peeping In” (《偷窥》), a series of nine plays held in the reader theater style.

     The production was held in two parts; the first half held on 11 September featured the plays “Rankings” (《名次》), “Blue” (《蓝》), “Sin” (《罪恶》), “Our Common Hatred Towards Fresh Flowers” (《我们对鲜花同仇敌忾》) and “BACK TO 2020”.

     Before we go on, what is reader theatre? It is a style of acting that puts greater emphasis on the actors’ voice and emotions while utilising less props and physical movements.

     The first play, “Rankings” tells the story of Zhu Ting (朱婷) who is under great pressure by her abusive mother to achieve first place in her class. After having made the class first place “disappear” twice and still failing to fulfill her mother’s wishes, the girl endures even more insults.

     In the end, she realises that all her problems can be traced back to one source and solved once and for all: her mother.

     The next play, “Blue” follows the titular character Xu Lan (许蓝) and her experiences dealing with misogyny and sexism at school, the workplace, and even in her own family. After her brother and father try to rob her, her father gets locked up after she filed a police report.

     This play with a strong feminist message ends with the father apologising for all his sexist deeds to her daughter during a conjugal visit.

     “Sin” follows the interrogation of the murderer behind the “1.4 serial killings” as she details her murder method, motive, and backstory. The plot thickens when it is revealed that the police chief opposite of her, Officer Pu (朴警长) is actually one Mrs Claude (克洛德夫人), a sketchy individual who has been responsible for various crimes and more importantly, her corruption.

     A standoff then ensues, with a choice being given to the chief: have the murderer expose his dirty past, or shoot the police assistant in the interrogation room and push the blame onto her. The play ended with the assistant’s begs, then a gunshot.

     An intermission followed before the next play, “Our Common Hatred Towards Fresh Flowers”, began.

     This play follows Ah Lin (阿林), a car crash victim who gets regular visits from her friends at the hospital. Every night, Ah Mu (阿木) comes to visit and convinces her of the futility and meaningless of life, to which Ah Lin constantly rebuts.

     It is slowly revealed that Ah Lin has had her picture perfect family life ruined by her parents’ messy divorce, and that the car crash was actually a suicide attempt. Through her resistance against Ah Mu’s words, she gradually begins to accept the warmth of life and finds her will to live.

     This minimalist emotional play with heavy themes of suicide and depression ends on a bright note: Ah Mu fades, and Ah Lin wakes up from her comatose state to her friends.

     The final play, “BACK TO 2020”, proposes this question: what if we could do 2020 all over again?

     The play begins with the two main characters, Zheng Wei (郑伟) and You Yong (优勇) activating a button crafted by the angels that sends everyone back to 2020 with their memories retained.

     How that turned out varied for different people: dead people were glad to be alive again and Zheng Wei’s father gets an additional bonus; while You Yong’s abusive father gets released from prison and a girl jumps from a building due to 2020 being the worst year for her.

     At the end of the year, global crises have been prevented yet some new ones arose. Hence, at the request of world leaders, the two boys rewind time again. The events happen in similar fashion and time always gets rewinded at the end of the year.

     After 100 time rewinds, a few things change: You Yong’s abusive father calls a truce with his mother and peacefully goes into custody, the girl who attempted suicide wins a Nobel Prize for writing a book based on her experience of jumping off the same building 100 times, and world leaders decided that time rewinds would no longer be necessary.

     At the end of the year, the angels find the missing button, but choose not to take it back. Instead, the two boys smash it, thereby letting time progress into a new year.

     This marked the end of the first half of “Peeping In”, with a feedback form being distributed and a group photo being taken concluding the Saturday’s show.

     Audiences have responded to the plays positively, having shown no hesitation in showing their praises in the Zoom chat box throughout the plays.

     Four more exciting shows would be presented at the same time the following Saturday, so stay tuned!

Credits to the Kuen Cheng Drama Club Facebook page