King Lear @ the Esplanade

Last Saturday, we got tickets to catch the Royal Shakespeare Company's KING LEAR which was presented by Singapore Repertory Theatre in collaboration with Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. Am not a huge fan of King Lear but how could I miss watching a play by the Royal Shakespeare Company with actor Ian McKellen from the Lord of the Rings and X-men fame.

I did King Lear long time ago...a trying to recall if I did it at college or in secondary school. I know we did quite a few of Shakespeare's plays in school and Hamlet was one I didn't like at all. My uni lecturer, an Irish man which the loveliest Irish accent, was rather exasperated because I just couldn't get it and he sort of begged me to catch the film version. I thought I was being 'clever' by asking him if he wanted me to see the 'BBC one or the Mel Gibson one' and his reply was 'Anything, just watch any version - maybe you'll understand it better' *laughs* THAT was how desperately he wanted me to get the play. Hamlet was just an infuriating character to me. All that thinking and wondering and contemplating...just DO IT lah! Another one that I do not like would be Romeo and Juliet. That's like 6 yucks from me.

What did I enjoy then? My favourite play has to be Macbeth. I have seen several productions (locals and non-locals) and have enjoyed them tremendously. A few years after I left college I had a huge craving for Macbeth and got myself a second hand copy and read it on the train and an elderly couple came up to me and said 'It's nice to see young people still enjoying Shakespeare'. My reaction then was a rather silly 'HUH?'. But I understand that now because I see the teens these days who are totally clueless about these wonderful plays. I remember we had to memorise quotes from these plays and till today, I can still remember them vividly. It also helped that I had wonderful teachers who instilled the love for Shakespeare by making the whole experience fun for me and my classmates.

My dear MBA mates, remember Mr Tan our Literature teacher who taught us Shakespeare and how EVERYTHING had sexual connotations and how he was trying to explain them to us? He was a funny man and I did enjoy his class.

Other plays that I enjoy from Shakespeare would be the Tempest, Twelth Night and Merchant of Venice. Unfortunately I've not had the chance to catch any of these plays here ... some day I hope.

Anyways, I've digressed some but let's get back to King Lear. It was pretty intense and it was good watching professionals acting on stage. Ian McKellen was good but so were the others. They were able portray the different characters and you get pulled into the story. It was pretty long production, about 3.5 hours and if you're not able to follow the plot, it can be tediously long. But am glad we went for it and it brought back good memories of my Shakespeare-studying days.

Quite embarassing but this came out in several newspapers around the world. Was googling to find a picture I could 'borrow' since we were not allowed to take pictures during the play and saw it in some paper in France and Russia. Am sure it was printed in other countries to. What are they laughing at? Agree to an extent that we need to loosen up some otherwise we'll never be able to compete with the other Asian countries in being the Number 1 entertainment/cultural/arts hub (plus all the other hubs) we're striving towards!

Well British actor Ian McKellen has been asked to avoid nudity during a key scene in William Shakespeare's King Lear when it is staged in strait-laced Singapore this week, a request he said Wednesday was "silly.

Gaurav Kripalani, the artistic director of the Singapore Repertory Theatre, said there was no censorship involved. He told the briefing that since more than 1,000 students had booked to attend the performances in the city-state, the theatre had asked the Royal Shakespeare Company if McKellen would cover up.

The openly gay McKellen on Tuesday urged Singapore to loosen up and repeal its archaic laws barring homosexual acts. He indicated the laws, which are remnants of British colonial rule, may affect a vibrant business city like Singapore, which is vying with other Asian cities to draw more foreign talent and professionals.