Annual Production 2004

Sing to the Dawn Sing to the Dawn Sing to the Dawn

"Sing to the Dawn"

"Sing to the Dawn" was a spectacular journey that began more than half a year ago, when the idea of a collaboration between the drama groups of Raffles Institution and Raffles Girls' School was proposed.

The story of "Sing to the Dawn" was simple yet touching, about a Thai village girl, Dawan, and her struggles against a traditional society. But what made our production most challenging was that we decided to perform its musical version.

The beginning rehearsals were difficult but the camaraderie between both schools that had been built during a drama camp held earlier helped to ease our struggles.

Our efforts culminated in three performances on the 7th (Fri) and 8th (Sat) of May 2004 at Jubilee Hall. We were truly warmed by the tremendous applause and there was even a standing ovation on our closing show.

This collaboration is a catalytic spark in the synergy between our sibling schools and I hope it will continue to grow from here.

Tay Hu Lin

Drama Feste 2004

Moor
Hullett

Bayley: "A Little Story"
Buckley: "Children Fight, Children Play, What's The Difference?"
Hullett: "Friday"
Moor: "Cut"
Morrison: "Election"

In 2003, Drama Feste was shelved due to SARS. All that pent-up creative energy returned with a vengeance this year as students from all levels worked hard to showcase their writing, directing, acting and organizational talents.

In Morrison's "Election" writer/director Tay Hu Lin's play captured the highs and lows of choosing a Head Councillor. From the euphoria of being selected as candidates to running election campaigns, several student councillors found that friendship could be the first casualty.

Bayley's "A Little Story", scripted by Ow Yeong Wai Kit, humanized a larger conflict between a certain small island and its larger neighbour. The play, directed by Wesley Lye, managed to make us think deeper about certain political issues in a humorous fashion.

Christian Russell's script for Buckley, "Children Fight, Children Play, What's The Difference?", poses the question: Can war and carnage make us laugh? Well, the bunch of military misfits, directed by Just Wong, certainly did!

Theatre is never complete without some controversy. Every year, one House proves that the Earth is flat by going to the edge of everything. Spoofing the authority? Check! Sending up the prefects? Check! Lampooning teachers? Double check! Azizul Kamal Shah took on the triple role of being writer, director and actor. He led the charge of the Hullett troops and their fearlessness won them Best Play and Best Acting Ensemble.

Moor chose to go the other distance: Depth. Chiang Cheng Chai's play about memory loss and entangled relationships drew us in with effectively simple sets and excellent acting from all three leads. If your past was a terrible mess, wouldn't it be better to forget everything and start anew? Could one wrong undo another? For daring to ask such tough questions, "Cut" won Best Script, and Best Actor for Yeo Sam Jo.

Otto Fong