last night, d.r. and i attended “the complete works of william shakespeare” by the reduced shakespeare company at the drama centre.

it was my first time attending a performance at the drama centre and i loved it. it felt up close and cosy – perfect for an intimate performance.

the trio from the rsc sustained a high level of energy and wit thought the 2 hour performance. you don’t have to be an avid reader of shakespeare or a thespian or an academic buff to enjoy the show. in fact, to the uninitiated, this is an insightful and light hearted keynote address to shakespeare in a nutshell.

the 37 plays are not equally divided upon 97 minutes. in fact hamlet took the entire half of the performance after the intermission. the comedies of shakespeare were condense into a 10-15 minute gig aptly called ‘4 weddings and a transversite’.

i was pretty pleased with myself that i knew where mid summer’s night dream blended into the tempest and when twelth’s night began and when all’s well that end’s well ended.

there was also audience participation and occasionally localised to humor the singaporean audience. it shows that they do their research and bother about heightening the enjoyment for the audience profile. it was commented that the history plays was like a game of football with the crown tossed about, pretty much like how liver pool trounced the lions for the victory.

true to shakespeare’s plays, there were also many sexual innuendos that i suspect didn’t get the attention of all the audience – which made it even wickedly funnier.

all in all, it was a great show where the performers gave 200% of themselves.

since my return from melbourne, i’ve been thrilled by the make over that the national museum of singapore has done. the old dame’s exterior is still a recognizable icon of colonial history but the new direction it takes to be inclusive and relevant has taken a new dimension.

when i was young, i frequented the singapore history museum only to find the same old exhibits i.e. diorama of the founding of colonial singapore and the arrival of the immigrant workers. history was not contested, just narrated. it wasn’t a place you’d find many children either because the sacred grounds were hush-hushed.

since last year however, the national museum of singapore has held programmes specially with the future generation of museum visitors in mind – children’s season. although the target audience is for kids and families, i thoroughly enjoyed these events.

my niece has visited both children’s season 08 and children’s season 09. i believe she, and her little brother will continue the habit. so will i. great job nhb!.

this sunday, many hhb museums are open free to the public. xh and i are intending to do a museum crawl over the entire day. check out the official website.

thanks again to ab for the heads up.

i’ve read this short story by Neil Gaiman before and loved it, however, the pacing and illustrations at infinite canvas made it even more endearing.

Enjoy

doing nothing with you is doing something extraordinary

thanks ab for the heads up.

this dad designs the paper bag that his kids take their lunch in for school. a newly designed lunch bag everyday.

i’m adding this to my rss subscription.

chanced upon the singapore heritage festival vintage car grand prix and concours at the asian civilisations museum on sunday.