(no subject)
It was the gala night for the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) staging of King Lear, at the Esplanade Theatres tonight and I'd been invited, as Tatler is the official magazine for this production. They only gave one ticket so i purchased an additional one for my sis as she really wanted to watch the play and we went together.
It was directed by Trevor Nunn but the real attraction for all of us, is undoubtedly the star of the show, in the titular role -- Sir Ian McKellen.
Sir Ian had arrived in Singapore with much justifiable fanfare in the local media and immediately made his presence felt by announcing on a local TV interview that one of the things he wanted to do while here was to visit a local gay bar, and that he felt the republic should repeal the laws criminalising sexual activities between adult males. Of course the local gay population and our supporters were thrilled by his comments, and even the government owned media duly reported what he said. The anti-gay laws are very much in the news now as Singapore is revising its penal code for the first time in decades and legislators have said they will remove the laws prohibiting oral sex and sodomy but only for heterosexuals, and that oral sex and sodomy will remain illegal for gays. This is of course an appalling and blatant discrimination and violation of equal treatment under the law and it's an issue that has glananised the community and also its enemies. So we were very much appreciative that an internationally renown and respected person like McKellen would come here and openly challenge this archaic law.
I was very much looking forward to the show and it did not disappoint. The play was stunning - one of the few world-class productions staged in Singapore, and it was truly a rare treat for local audiences. From the sets to the costumes, from the lighting design and the music of course the actors, this was a peerless staging of what many consider the most difficult role in the entire Shakespearean canon.
At the end of the play, the full-house Singapore audience, so renown for its reticence, uncharacteristically gave the cast a roaring standing ovation. It was quite wonderful to see the connection between cast and audience, and the genuine warmth and appreciation displayed for the performers.
"One of the most lucid, powerful and moving productions of this great tragedy I have ever seen… What McKellen achieves, with rare grace, simplicity and emotional candour, is a performance that allows the audience to follow, and understand, every stage of Lear's terrible journey… Trevor Nunn and Ian McKellen have undoubtedly achieved something beautiful and profound"
Daily Telegraph, UK
There was a cast party after the show at Indochine Waterfront for supporters and sponsors and my sis and I drove over. I was wondering if the actors would actually show up as I imagined they'd be quite exhausted but they all came soon after we arrived. And there he was right in front of me, Sir Ian McKellen himself. Guarav Kripalani, the MD of the Singapore Repertory Theatre, which had brought the play in, introduced us, and I was able to have a very nice chat with him. He was so personable, listening and asking questions and was far more attentive than most people I meet at cocktail parties. He mentioned to me that some gay members of the cast and himself would be going to a gay club later and asked if I wanted to go along. He asked which club they should go to and mentioned that he'd been invited by the owners of Mox. I told him that Mox was a nice place to go if he wanted to relax as it wasn't a loud dance club. He then asked me where he might be able to leave the shoulder bag that he was carrying and I told him that I would hold it for him. he said "You don't have to do that, can you tell me where I can leave it..." but i took the bag from him and carried it - what an honour, entrusted to carry Sir Ian McKellan's bag!
I eventually returned Sir Ian's bag to him and we had a pic taken together.
All the other cast members were there too, and we were able to meet and chat with many of them. One in particular was the gorgeous and talented Phillip Winchester, who plays the evil Edmund in the play.
I left the party and got a ride down to the Tanjong Pagar area and waited outside Mox for them to arrive. I wasn’t even sure whether anyone at Mox would recognise him but I underestimated his fame... there was a huge crowd waiting and as soon as he stepped out of his car there were screams and cheers coming from the roof deck above. The owners of Mox were all there to welcome him, as was Bernice, and they were really gracious hosts. He received a fantastic reception when he walked in - cheers and applause and hoots and flashbulbs clicking away, it was really terrific to see. Frances Barber, who plays Lear’s daughter Goneril said as we followed behind, ‘Oh he’s loving this, this is fantastic!”
As expected, he was mobbed with a crush of fans crowding around his table, posing for photos, asking for autographs and even hugging him. What impressed me was that he was so gracious and warm and friendly to every single person, listening to them, asking them about themselves and engaging them in conversation. It was a stream of queens all intent to tell him what he meant to them and many thanking him for his recent comments on TV and in the papers about homosexual rights in Singapore. The poor man was so busy posing for photos, signing autographs and talking to everyone that he barely had time for a drink but he seemed to be really enjoying meeting all the guys.
I also made a point to tell him that he must watch a gay play as well and he said that he’d been invited to Asian Boys but wasn’t sure what it was about. I raved about it and said he really shouldn’t miss it as it would show him a bit more about gay life and history in Singapore. He asked if they had matinees as he could only make it in the day, and I said there were, on both weekend days. He said he would make it a point to go watch it on Sunday then.
We finally left around 345 am and I was lucky enough to get a big hug from him when we said goodnight. I sent an SMS to Ivan Heng the director of Asian Boys and told him that Sir Ian wanted to attend Asian Boys, to which he replied, "This is Amazing news! Thank you!" I told Ivan I wanted to purchase two tickets as well and he said he would leave them at the box office. I invited Mark Zee and we made a date for the matinee.
======================================================
Here's another review of King Lear that I found online, based on the pre-tour stagings in the UK.
I am a very foolish fond old man,
Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less;
And, to deal plainly,
I fear I am not in my perfect mind.
Yesterday we saw King Lear with Ian McKellen at the Newcastle Theatre Royal. This is an RSC production, directed by Trevor Nunn and the theatre was packed with anticipation.
Considering that McKellen has waited all his life for this part, he was surprisingly relaxed as the king who achieves sanity and enlightenment via a sojourn through madness. The actor, especially in the scenes depicting the depths of Lear’s despair, has the entire audience in a nervy, emotional and moving sweat. The play is notoriously ‘difficult’, but the part of the king is surely one of McKellen’s finest performances.
It was obvious that the actor had spent a long time with the script. Every line, every word had been internalised and assigned meaning, giving us a Lear unlike any other I have seen or heard. McKellen is an actor who can be too grand, who can sometimes reach beyond his character and lose the genius of the playwright. But in this role he triumphs. Time and again during his appearances on stage I had no experience of watching a great actor. The old king came roaring out of him and the poor player was lost and invisible behind his creation.
It is a rare occurrence to be moved profoundly, but this production of Shakespeare’s tragedy took me there yesterday. The final act has never before acted on my emotions in quite the same way.
Throughout the performance I was reminded time after time of the figure of Don Quixote, a comparison which has not occurred to me in previous viewings of the play. Both, of course, are fond old men in need of a touch of dignity at the beginning of their fictional careers, and each of them, created around the same time (KL 1603-1606; DQ 1603-1605), have to go through periods of insanity in order to reach some peace and equilibrium with the world.
The script of King Lear needs no more praise from me, the direction and the concept and the supporting actors and theatre technicians all played their part. The music was often unnecessary, sometimes intrusive and inexplicable. But in spite of small flaws I do not expect to see a better Lear. And at this stage of his career, what a piece of work is Ian McKellen.
It was directed by Trevor Nunn but the real attraction for all of us, is undoubtedly the star of the show, in the titular role -- Sir Ian McKellen.
Sir Ian had arrived in Singapore with much justifiable fanfare in the local media and immediately made his presence felt by announcing on a local TV interview that one of the things he wanted to do while here was to visit a local gay bar, and that he felt the republic should repeal the laws criminalising sexual activities between adult males. Of course the local gay population and our supporters were thrilled by his comments, and even the government owned media duly reported what he said. The anti-gay laws are very much in the news now as Singapore is revising its penal code for the first time in decades and legislators have said they will remove the laws prohibiting oral sex and sodomy but only for heterosexuals, and that oral sex and sodomy will remain illegal for gays. This is of course an appalling and blatant discrimination and violation of equal treatment under the law and it's an issue that has glananised the community and also its enemies. So we were very much appreciative that an internationally renown and respected person like McKellen would come here and openly challenge this archaic law.
I was very much looking forward to the show and it did not disappoint. The play was stunning - one of the few world-class productions staged in Singapore, and it was truly a rare treat for local audiences. From the sets to the costumes, from the lighting design and the music of course the actors, this was a peerless staging of what many consider the most difficult role in the entire Shakespearean canon.
At the end of the play, the full-house Singapore audience, so renown for its reticence, uncharacteristically gave the cast a roaring standing ovation. It was quite wonderful to see the connection between cast and audience, and the genuine warmth and appreciation displayed for the performers.
"One of the most lucid, powerful and moving productions of this great tragedy I have ever seen… What McKellen achieves, with rare grace, simplicity and emotional candour, is a performance that allows the audience to follow, and understand, every stage of Lear's terrible journey… Trevor Nunn and Ian McKellen have undoubtedly achieved something beautiful and profound"
Daily Telegraph, UK
There was a cast party after the show at Indochine Waterfront for supporters and sponsors and my sis and I drove over. I was wondering if the actors would actually show up as I imagined they'd be quite exhausted but they all came soon after we arrived. And there he was right in front of me, Sir Ian McKellen himself. Guarav Kripalani, the MD of the Singapore Repertory Theatre, which had brought the play in, introduced us, and I was able to have a very nice chat with him. He was so personable, listening and asking questions and was far more attentive than most people I meet at cocktail parties. He mentioned to me that some gay members of the cast and himself would be going to a gay club later and asked if I wanted to go along. He asked which club they should go to and mentioned that he'd been invited by the owners of Mox. I told him that Mox was a nice place to go if he wanted to relax as it wasn't a loud dance club. He then asked me where he might be able to leave the shoulder bag that he was carrying and I told him that I would hold it for him. he said "You don't have to do that, can you tell me where I can leave it..." but i took the bag from him and carried it - what an honour, entrusted to carry Sir Ian McKellan's bag!
I eventually returned Sir Ian's bag to him and we had a pic taken together.
All the other cast members were there too, and we were able to meet and chat with many of them. One in particular was the gorgeous and talented Phillip Winchester, who plays the evil Edmund in the play.
I left the party and got a ride down to the Tanjong Pagar area and waited outside Mox for them to arrive. I wasn’t even sure whether anyone at Mox would recognise him but I underestimated his fame... there was a huge crowd waiting and as soon as he stepped out of his car there were screams and cheers coming from the roof deck above. The owners of Mox were all there to welcome him, as was Bernice, and they were really gracious hosts. He received a fantastic reception when he walked in - cheers and applause and hoots and flashbulbs clicking away, it was really terrific to see. Frances Barber, who plays Lear’s daughter Goneril said as we followed behind, ‘Oh he’s loving this, this is fantastic!”
As expected, he was mobbed with a crush of fans crowding around his table, posing for photos, asking for autographs and even hugging him. What impressed me was that he was so gracious and warm and friendly to every single person, listening to them, asking them about themselves and engaging them in conversation. It was a stream of queens all intent to tell him what he meant to them and many thanking him for his recent comments on TV and in the papers about homosexual rights in Singapore. The poor man was so busy posing for photos, signing autographs and talking to everyone that he barely had time for a drink but he seemed to be really enjoying meeting all the guys.
I also made a point to tell him that he must watch a gay play as well and he said that he’d been invited to Asian Boys but wasn’t sure what it was about. I raved about it and said he really shouldn’t miss it as it would show him a bit more about gay life and history in Singapore. He asked if they had matinees as he could only make it in the day, and I said there were, on both weekend days. He said he would make it a point to go watch it on Sunday then.
We finally left around 345 am and I was lucky enough to get a big hug from him when we said goodnight. I sent an SMS to Ivan Heng the director of Asian Boys and told him that Sir Ian wanted to attend Asian Boys, to which he replied, "This is Amazing news! Thank you!" I told Ivan I wanted to purchase two tickets as well and he said he would leave them at the box office. I invited Mark Zee and we made a date for the matinee.
======================================================
Here's another review of King Lear that I found online, based on the pre-tour stagings in the UK.
I am a very foolish fond old man,
Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less;
And, to deal plainly,
I fear I am not in my perfect mind.
Yesterday we saw King Lear with Ian McKellen at the Newcastle Theatre Royal. This is an RSC production, directed by Trevor Nunn and the theatre was packed with anticipation.
Considering that McKellen has waited all his life for this part, he was surprisingly relaxed as the king who achieves sanity and enlightenment via a sojourn through madness. The actor, especially in the scenes depicting the depths of Lear’s despair, has the entire audience in a nervy, emotional and moving sweat. The play is notoriously ‘difficult’, but the part of the king is surely one of McKellen’s finest performances.
It was obvious that the actor had spent a long time with the script. Every line, every word had been internalised and assigned meaning, giving us a Lear unlike any other I have seen or heard. McKellen is an actor who can be too grand, who can sometimes reach beyond his character and lose the genius of the playwright. But in this role he triumphs. Time and again during his appearances on stage I had no experience of watching a great actor. The old king came roaring out of him and the poor player was lost and invisible behind his creation.
It is a rare occurrence to be moved profoundly, but this production of Shakespeare’s tragedy took me there yesterday. The final act has never before acted on my emotions in quite the same way.
Throughout the performance I was reminded time after time of the figure of Don Quixote, a comparison which has not occurred to me in previous viewings of the play. Both, of course, are fond old men in need of a touch of dignity at the beginning of their fictional careers, and each of them, created around the same time (KL 1603-1606; DQ 1603-1605), have to go through periods of insanity in order to reach some peace and equilibrium with the world.
The script of King Lear needs no more praise from me, the direction and the concept and the supporting actors and theatre technicians all played their part. The music was often unnecessary, sometimes intrusive and inexplicable. But in spite of small flaws I do not expect to see a better Lear. And at this stage of his career, what a piece of work is Ian McKellen.